


The Days of Sun

by Ulysses_Quanta



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-30
Updated: 2018-06-03
Packaged: 2019-05-16 05:00:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 25,809
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14804844
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ulysses_Quanta/pseuds/Ulysses_Quanta
Summary: Collection of one shots following Sun, Hau, Gladion, Lillie and many other characters as they battle, have fun and explore the mysteries of Alola and beyond. Contains USUM spoilers.





	1. A New Day Dawns

**Author's Note:**

> Initially, these were separate one shots being uploaded individually. For the sake of making it easier to access, it's going to be a single story with each chapter being a different story each time. This way, it'll be easier for people to read the stories. 
> 
> Hope you enjoy. Be sure to review and leave a favourite and follow so you can keep up with the crew's adventures!

**A New Day Dawns**

The sun began rising behind me as I watch as the Silvally collapsed in front of my Primarina, too beaten down to continue.

"Close, but no luck unfortunately," I say to the man in front of me. He pulls a hand up to his face, but I can see a small smile peeking out from behind it.

"Almost had you. The training is paying off," Gladion admitted. I quickly healed Primarina and returned her to her Poké Ball after throwing her a Poké Bean. Gladion was healing Silvally as I walked up to him.

"So how long you staying for this time?" I ask him. He turns his head to me.

"A couple of weeks. Then I'm heading back to Johto. Need to take on Jasmine and Pryce yet," he admits.

"So do you mind coming to a festival in Iki Town for a while then?"

"Sorry, I don't do festivals." He returned Silvally to it's Poké Ball.

"You won't need to do any dancing or interacting, but I think you might want to see Lillie undergo her Grand Trial." That got Gladion's attention.

"Grand Trial? Lillie's a Pokémon trainer?" he asks me. I nod my head.

"Yeah, she's undergoing her Grand Trial to earn herself a Z-Ring. She's still not overly keen on battling, but she's getting there. Me and Hau have been accompanying her since we've done it already. She had gotten the Normal Trial done when I got the call that I had a challenger," I tell him. Gladion cocked his eyebrow at me.

"Hau's accompanying her? You I can understand, but Hau? Did she bribe him with malasadas or something?" he asks, causing me to chuckle.

"Probably. You'll see when we get there," I tell him, walking down the stairs to where the entrance to the League was. Hearing footsteps behind me, I knew he was interested in going to the Grand Trial.

"So, Gladion. While we are on our way to the festival, can you tell me about how your journey through Johto has gone so far?" I ask as I call up Charizard from the Ride Pager. I see the blonde boy nod curtly as the Flame Pokémon landed in front of me. After we both climbed aboard Charizard and took off, I hear Gladion start talking. "So it started once I hit New Bark Town..."

_Half an hour later, on the Mahalo Trail..._

"...So she threw a tantrum because you beat her and refused to give you the Gym badge until after she stopped crying? Wow," I say to Gladion.

"She probably wasn't expecting Silvally to take out her Miltank in one hit," he admitted. I shook my head.

"Here we are. Iki Town. It looks like they are almost about to start," I observe. "You sure you don't want to-" I turn to say to the person next to me, but he's already disappeared into the brush. I sigh and shrug, and make my way into Iki Town, where Hau was waiting for me.

"Hey Sun! I thought you'd never make it!" Hau called. I smiled and walked up to him, exchanging a high five with him.

"Wouldn't miss this for the world. Where is the lady of the hour?" I ask, scanning the people around the stage. There didn't seem to be any sign of her anywhere.

"She's on her way here, she just went to fetch Kukui since he's lost track of time again," Hau explains. I sigh and cover my face with my hand.

"He's probably researching moves again. Crazy man wants me to bring Necrozma to him so he can research Light That Burns The Sky for some reason," I tell Hau, who laughed in response. Before he can say anything else in response, a large man took the stage.

"Today, we are here to see a trial goer attempt the Grand Trial of Melemele Island! As the Kahuna of Melemele Island, I, Hala, will be facing off against the challenger, Lillie, of the Aether Paradise!" Hala calls out to the crowd as they erupt in cheers. I begin scanning the crowd again, worried that something may have happened to Lillie. To my relief, I spot her next to Kukui and Burnet. She seems nervous, but then again, I'm not surprised. This is her Grand Trial. I watch as she walks up onto the platform to take the stage, ignoring Hau tapping me on the shoulder to tell me that she is there. She looks around and quickly spots me and Hau, and starts smiling as Hau frantically waves at her and I smile at her.

Somewhere in the brush, I know Gladion's smiling too.

"This will be a two on two battle! The winner will be determined by who is able to knock out all of their opponent's Pokémon first. The Kahuna cannot switch their Pokémon out, but the challenger is permitted to switch their Pokémon!" Kukui called out.

"...I can do this. I have my Pokémon and I have my friends with me. I can do this!" Lillie said to herself.

"Ho! I have been expecting you. Allow me to properly greet the young adventurer embarking on their island challenge. I am Hala, the kahuna of Melemele Island," Hala announced to Lillie.

"Shall we begin? The final trial here on Melemele Island will be a Pokémon battle against me, the kahuna! Lillie! You have chose to walk this path despite your reservations about it! Regardless of the outcome of this match, that is a huge step for you. Now show me you and your team's full power!"

"Mankey, let's go!" Hala roared, releasing the Pig Monkey Pokémon who yelled in response.

"Comfey, come on out!" Lillie called, sending out the Posy Picker Pokémon who did an elegant spin.

"Mankey, use Focus Energy!" Hala ordered.

"Comfey, Calm Mind!" Lillie ordered. Both Pokémon stayed still as Comfey started clearing his mind while Mankey started focussing his mind.

"Set ups? Huh," Hau noted while I looked on. Seemed like Lillie had taken the advice I'd given her on board.

"Mankey! Use Poison Jab!" Hala ordered, causing him to dart forward and smash into Comfey sending him flying backwards. Comfey was able to get back up, but looked hurt.

"Critical hit. Not good." I observed. Lillie had a brief look of worry on her face, but it quickly disappeared and a look of determination appeared in it's place.

"Comfey, use Dazzling Gleam!" she ordered, causing Comfey to glow brightly as he formed a rainbow sphere around his body and crashed into Mankey, earning a howl from the Pig Monkey as he was sent flying backwards from the blow. I smiled.

"Poison Jab again!"

"Comfey, use Draining Kiss!" Lillie called out. Comfey darted forward and blew a kiss at Mankey, who let out an agonized growl before slumping to the ground. Comfey did another spin, looking much healthier now.

"Triage..." Hau whispered to himself. I smiled. She had gotten better.

"Mankey is unable to battle! The winner is Comfey!" Kukui called out. Comfey floated over to Lillie and hugged the girl as the two celebrated knocking out Hala's first Pokémon.

"Nice work. But I'm not beaten that easily. Let's try this instead. Hariyama, let's go!" Hala yelled, sending out the Arm Thrust Pokémon.

"Comfey, take a break. You've earned it," Lillie told the Pokémon as she returned it. She pulled another Poké Ball out.

"Ribombee, come on out!" Lillie threw the Poké Ball out, allowing the Bee Fly out to battle.

"Hariyama, Fake Out!" Hala called. The Pokémon's hands began to glow orange as he moved towards Ribombee, before clapping them together to release a shockwave of energy, knocking him back and stopping him from moving.

"That's not good," I mused.

"Rimbombee, use Reflect!" Lillie ordered, causing the little Pokémon to produce a rainbow coloured barrier in front of him.

"Hariyama, perform a Brick Break." Hariyama flew at Ribombee and delivered a blow that broke through the barrier and struck the Bee Fly Pokémon, knocking him backwards.

"Now, follow up with Fire Punch!" Hala yelled. Without a moment's hesitation, Hariyama covered his fist in fire and struck Ribombee before he could react, sending him flying past Lillie.

"Ribombee!" Lillie called. The Bee Fly Pokémon managed to stagger up and take flight again, evidently hurting from the blows.

"Ribombee can't take much more... She needs to end this now!" I say to myself. Noting Lillie's worried look, I call out to her "Hey! You still got this, so keep going!". She looks to where me and Hau are standing. Hau's grinning and waving at her to encourage her. I nod at her. She understands.

"I got this. I got this! Hala, this is my-" Lillie begins to shout but stops at the sight of Hala's Z-Ring.

"Hariyama, let's finish this! Channel Brick Break...  _Into All Out Pummeling!_ " Hala roars, striking all of the poses for the Fighting Type Z-Move. I close my eyes, not wanting to see the merciless assault on Ribombee. I can hear the impacts as the multiple blows slam into him...

"Wait, why does that sound so weak?" I ask, opening my eyes. I see Hariyama standing after delivering the final blow. And Ribombee...

Was still going. It looked severely drained, but it was still up.

"I was worried you wasn't going to get that up in time. Good work with Protect, Ribombee!" Lillie tells the Fairy, who does a loop in response.

"Impressive work, Lillie! You have gotten strong indeed," Hala comments.

"I had good teachers. Now, let's go! Ribombee, Dazzling Gleam!" Lillie commands. Ribombee charged at the Hariyama as a rainbow coloured sphere formed around him.

"Hariyama! End this with Fire Punch!" Hala orders. Covering his fist with fire once again, Hariyama charged at the Ribombee. The two Pokémon collided in the middle of the stage, causing a blast to erupt from where they were. I couldn't see anything through the smoke.

"Ribombee!"

"Hariyama!"

The smoke began to clear. As it did, I saw that both Ribombee and Hariyama were on the ground. Neither one looked like it was going to move.

"Ribombee and Hariyama are both unable to battle! The result is a draw! Lillie is the victor!" Kukui called out. Ignoring him, she ran onto the stage to check on Ribombee.

"Ribombee, are you okay?" Lillie asked the Bee Fly as she knelt by him. He got to his feet and took off to fly in front of Lillie's face, before hugging her and letting out a short "Bee!" to show he was okay.

"That's great news! You take a nice long rest," Lillie told him, returning him to his Poké Ball. She stood up as Hala approached her, returning his Hariyama.

"...Hmmph! The results come as no surprise to me. What a fine Trainer...and what fine Pokémon, too!" Hala announced. He pulled a Z-Power Ring out of his pocket.

"Accept this Z-Power Ring with the Fightinium Z-Crystal! It allows Trainers to share their power with their partner Pokémon!"

"Th-thank you Hala!" Lillie stammered out. Hala smiled at her.

"Observe, Lillie. If you wish to use the Fighting-type Z-Power, move your arm like this... then bend your hips like this and pose!" Hala said as he performed the Fighting type dance.

"Now then, Lillie! With this victory... you have cleared all of the trials of Melemele Island, the first of Alola's islands! Congratulations on your victory!" Hala told her as the crowd started cheering. Sun and Hau made their way through the crowd to where Lillie was stepping down from the stage.

"Lillie, that was amazing! You've done better than me, I couldn't beat gramps on my first go!" Hau rushed out as he went to glomp Lillie. Lillie moved out the way, causing Hau to crash into the ground.

"Smooth, Hau. Real smooth," I say as I go to high five Lillie. She returns it with a smile. "Nice work there. You held up well against Hala and earned yourself a Z-Ring. Everyone's gonna be proud of you," I tell her.

"Thanks, but Ribombee still got hurt..." Lillie trailed off.

"Remember what I told you, they can take a lot more punishment than you might think. He's still able to fly, so he should be okay," I reassure her. She looked at me with uncertainty as Hau got back to his feet.

"Yeah, he still flew around, so he's fine! Come on, let's go get some celebratory malasadas!" Hau said, trying to pull me and Lillie along.

"Actually, I need to borrow Lillie for a bit. Go on without us," I tell him. He pouted but went off anyway.

"What's wrong?" she asked. I just gesture to her to follow me and walk towards the Mahalo Trail. I walk up to where I last saw the boy, only to find he's not there.

"Where is he?" I mutter to myself. I see Lillie's not far behind, so I need to get him out here now. I throw a Poké Ball into the air, letting out a purple Pokémon.

"Poipole, can you look for him in there?" I ask, striking his pose before gesturing to the brush. The Ultra Beast spins around and flies into the brush.

"What's going on, Sun?" Lillie asks me.

"You'll see," I say as I hear rustling in the brush

Followed by "Will you quit jabbing me? I'm going, I'm going!" as a blond haired boy tumbles out the brush in front of us, Poipole flying out laughing afterwards. I hold out a hand to help him up as Lillie just stares in surprise.

"Your Ultra Beast is very persistent," Gladion grumbles before getting glomped by Lillie.

"Erk! Uh... Hey Lillie."

"Gladion! Did you see it? Did you see my Grand Trial?"

"Yeah, I was watching. Congratulations on earning a Z-Ring," Gladion tells her earnestly. I smile at the siblings reuniting.

"When did you get back?" Lillie now asks, releasing Gladion from her hug.

"Just this morning. Went to challenge Sun and then he dragged me here," Gladion says, giving me a pointed look.

"You brought him here to see me do my Grand Trial?" she asks. I nod. Before I can turn away to go towards the stairs so I can head after Hau, Lillie leaps and glomps me as well.

"Wha? Oh, erm, it's not a problem?" I say, wanting Lillie to let go as Gladion is now looking at me with a smirk. It reminded me of a Pancham who's about to do something mischievous.

"Can we get going? Hau's gonna eat all the Malasadas if we don't," I plead. Lillie finally lets go and walks on ahead as I look at Gladion, who promptly covers his face with his hand.

"...Trust you to make her happy without even realising it," Gladion mutters. Choosing to ignore the remark so as to not ruin Lillie's celebration ahead of us, I return Poipole to it's Poké Ball.

"You coming along with us?" I ask. The boy shrugs and starts walking after Lillie. I look up at the sky above me, and see a spark of electricity darting past far in the sky.

Evidentally, the battle had pleased Tapu Koko. Hopefully that was a sign of good things to come.

_Character Ages:_

_Sun: 13_

_Hau: 14_

_Lillie: 14_

_Gladion: 15_


	2. Unlocking the Light Within

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sun has a theory about how they could achieve the Ultra Necrozma forme without the use of Nebby. Will his theory be proven right?

**Unl** **ocking the**   **Light Within**

"There." I said, stepping back to admire my handiwork. All the Z-Crystals I had managed to obtain over the course of my journey were laid in a circle pattern around the centre of the Altar of the Sonne. In the middle of them was the mysterious Necrozma.

I knew that it was capable of achieving the powerful Ultra Necrozma form with the help of Solgaleo or Lunala, but I had a theory about a possible way to achieve that form without the use of either of those two.

By using the Z-Crystals that the creature seemed drawn to in addition to artificial sources of light for it to drain, I believed it could achieve that form without causing danger for the inhabitants of any of the worlds.

And the reason I had chosen the Altar of the Sonne? It had been where Necrozma had initally entered our world from, which meant it had ties to this place, and it was out of the way, so no innocents were at risk of being caught up in the experiments. And since I had captured it while on my way through Mount Lanakila, if anything went wrong, we could return it immediately.

I finished my preparations and called out to Necrozma to see if it was ready. The creature nodded at me.

"Is everything set up and ready to go?" I called to the Aether scientists that were fussing around the lights. They stuck a thumbs up at me as well. I looked to Hau and Gladion to see if they were ready to go. They nodded as well.

"You sure you can do this? You only recently got the Z-Ring, we can get Illima or Molayne to help us with it instead if you can't," I asked the blonde girl to my left. Lillie just nodded and looked ahead.

Time to see if this theory was right.

We began with me performing the Normal type Z-Move dance, then Hau followed up with the Fighting type. Slowly, we worked our way through each type, attempting to fire up the crystals to get them to work with Necrozma.

Finally, it was time to perform the Ultranecrozmium Z-Move dance. As a group, we all performed the dance, finished that up and looked at the Necrozma.

It was glowing, with the Z-Crystals slowly floating up around it. The light panels we had set up were starting to flicker.

" _It's working!"_ I thought to myself.

We watched as Necrozma continued to glow brighter, drawing the Z-Crystals in closer to it...

"Sun, the power's spiking too much. You need to return Necrozma." one of the Aether scientists warned.

"It can do it, just hang on!" I yelled. Necrozma seemed like it was almost there...

Only for the light panels to shut off with a magnificent "BANG!", startling Necrozma and causing the Z-Crystals around it to fall down.

I lowered my arm from my face and took in the scene. The generators that were powering the lights were smoking, and Necrozma had a look of confusion on it's face. Gladion and Hau were still standing, but both looked noticably exhausted. Lillie had fallen to her knees out of exhaustion from performing so many Z-Moves.

_"Was that training we did for nothing?"_ I thought.

"Sorry, Sun. It was too much strain on the generators." I sighed in frustration, holding a hand out to pull Lillie to her feet. Gladion glared at me.

"So all this was for nothing then?" he asked. I shook my head.

"No, we just need to locate a stronger generator to power the lights. We almost had it that time," I said, pulling out a Poké Ball to return Necrozma, who seemed a tad put out by another failure.

"It'll be fine! Come on, we need to gather the Z-Crystals up for next time!" Hau told Gladion, who rolled his eyes but followed the boy to where the crystals had fallen. I turned to Lillie, who looked drained.

"I warned you it might be a bit much for you." I told her. She just shook her head.

"If it's to help Necrozma, we've got to try right?" I shake my head now.

"Even so, you just got that thing. You should be taking time to get used to Z-Moves," I warned her. She shook her head and pouted, and I just threw my arms up in the air in defeat. It was easier to fight a Celesteela with a Zigzagoon than it was to change her mind when Lillie set her mind on something, I had found.

"Come on, we gotta go help Gladion and Hau gather the crystals up," I told her, and so we made our way over to where the two boys were gathering the crystals up from where they had fallen, Gladion's Lucario and Hau's Incineroar helping them with the effort.

"Sorry guys. Guess I overestimated how much light Necrozma needed," I conceded.

"It's fine! We'll just have to try again another time," Hau reassured me. Gladion looked at me for a moment before looking at Lillie to check to make sure she was okay.

"Just shout me when I'm needed, gonna be in Alola for a bit longer now anyway," he said. I nodded my head and picked up the last crystal, the Normalium Z. We put the Z-Crystals back in the pocket of my bag and I put my bag back on my shoulders. I looked at the Aether Scientists and gave them a thumbs up, and they turned around to pack up the equipment.

"We'll meet back here in a week to try this again. Make sure you rest and keep training, we almost had it." I told the others. Hau called up his Charizard through his Ride Pager.

"Gladion, can you make sure Lillie gets back alright? I fear it took more out of her than she's letting on," I ask. The blonde opened her mouth to complain but stopped at the looks she was getting off me and Gladion. Gladion nodded and turned to his sister, who, after a few moments of looking annoyed at the prospect of being looked after, sighed and smiled at Gladion. The siblings then walked off, heading down the stairs of the Altar.

That left me.

I turned to the spot where Necrozma had been, and looked up the Altar, to where the portal it had emerged from had opened all that time ago.

"We'll get this right. We'll get you back to your original form, I promise." I muttered to myself. I turned around and began to walk off the Altar, heading down the steps.

We knew what to do now. We just needed to keep trying.

_Ages for the characters:_

_Sun: 14._

_Hau: 14._

_Lillie: 14._

_Gladion: 16._


	3. The Student vs The Master

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A challenger has requested a match with Sun at the Lake of the Moone. Who is this challenger and will Sun defeat them?

**The Student vs The** **Master**

I remain sat in the middle of the platform in the Lake of the Moone. Eyes closed, legs crossed, I meditate, considering new move combinations to be implemented as I wait. They told me to wait here, Dulse and Zossie had. Apparently, someone wished to face me to test how well they had improved over time. I could never turn down a challenge, but they had told me to come here, for the challenger didn't want to challenge for the title. They simply wanted a battle. My mind flickers through recent opponents. Gladion, Hau, Guzma, Hapu, even Lusamine. I assumed the challenger was a child from the Pokémon Trainer's School, but that didn't explain why they wanted me to come all the way out here to face me.

I hear footsteps. Someone is here. I open my eyes to see Zossie and Dulse in front of me.

"Alola, Sun," Dulse says as he and Zossie do their version of the Alola greeting.

"Alola," I say as I return the greeting. "So, you two are the ones who wish to battle me?"

"No, but the person who does is right behind us. We just wanted to ask if we could watch!" Zossie says excitedly. Dulse looks at me expectantly.

"Of course. Spectators are welcome," I tell them as I get to my feet. "But who's my opponent?" I ask. They walk to either side of the platform without answering. I take a few steps back so that when they appear, we can battle straight away.

And a person walks up the steps. Blonde hair, white outfit. The Z-Powered Form.

"Lillie," I say, a smile breaking out. "You want to battle me?"

"Yeah, I do. I think I'm good enough to keep up with you now," Lillie says. Her eyes are filled with determination. I nod, and pull out a Poké Ball.

"How about this. Two Pokémon each. First person to lose all two loses," I tell her. She nods and does a fist pump.

"Very well. Rotom?" I ask. It flies out my bag and floats in front of me.

"Yes, zzt?"

"Would you be able to record this battle?"

"Certainly! Who's the opponent?" Rotom turns around and spots Lillie.

"Lillie? Well I'll definitely record this! Zzt zzt!" Rotom flies to where Zossie is standing and begins recording.

"Oh and Sun? Don't hold back," Lillie tells me. I nod.

"Very well. Froslass, go!" I yell, releasing the Snow Land Pokémon.

"Comfey, come on out!" Lillie yells, releasing the Posy Picker Pokémon who does an elegant spin. Comfey soon spots me, and looks back at Lillie in confusion.

"We are going to defeat Sun today, Comfey," Lillie tells him. Comfey nods and does a spin.

"Froslass? Don't go easy because it's Lillie. It would be disrespectful not to show her our full power," I tell her. Froslass smirks and folds her arms, signalling to Comfey that he will get the first move.

"Comfey, let's begin! Calm Mind!" Lillie orders. Comfey stays still as he begins to clear his mind.

"Froslass, Toxic!" I order. Froslass fires a stream of purple liquid at Comfey from her hands which disperses into a cloud, enveloping the Fairy type.

"Oh no, Comfey!" Lillie yells. The cloud clears, showing that Comfey had been poisoned.

"No time to waste. Froslass, Hex!" I order. Froslass produces a sphere of black energy with a red eye in the middle.

"Comfey, Dazzling Gleam into the Hex!" Lillie calls out to my surprise. Comfey forms a rainbow coloured sphere around himself and charges straight into the sphere, causing it to detonate in Froslass' face. The smoke soon cleared, revealing Comfey to have taken severe damage from the Hex, while Froslass looks extremely irritated from having it's Hex destroyed prematurely.

"Froslass, Hex again!" I order. With unbridled fury in her eyes at the Posy Picker for embarrassing her, Froslass grabs Comfey and forms the Hex around him, before the eye of the sphere launches multiple blue rings that fly around the orb before flying into the red eye, causing it to implode with full force, this time with Comfey at the center of the move.

"Comfey!" Lillie yells out. Comfey appears through the smoke, barely able to move. I pull out Froslass' Poké Ball, knowing that Froslass needed time to calm down from Comfey causing her Hex to blow up in her face, especially since Comfey was basically finished due to Toxic.

"Froslass, enough. Comfey's-" I get cut off by Froslass firing off an Ice Beam at Comfey, knocking him out. I glare at Froslass.

"That was uncalled for," I scold her. Froslass glares back at me before letting out a cathartic giggle. I shake my head in annoyance at Froslass and return her before applying medicine to Comfey to help him with the wounds.

"Sorry, Lillie. Should've warned you, Froslass does not like people making her look stupid, especially in battle," I say apologetically. Lillie doesn't respond until Comfey flies over and hugs her, showing it was okay.

"That looked painful," Dulse observed.

"Are there really mean Pokémon like Froslass? I thought most of them were nice!" Zossie says.

"Froslass, well she's one of a kind. She is nice, but she can be overconfident in her power and she doesn't like her opponents making her look stupid," I explain. Dulse nods in understanding as I look at Lillie, frowning. She has a worried look on her face as she pulls out another Poké Ball.

"Ribombee, come on out!" she says, releasing the Bee Fly Pokémon.

"Lillie... I'm sorry. Primarina, go!" I yell, releasing the Soloist Pokémon. This time, Primarina looks at me with confusion

"Prima, we are facing Lillie to see how good she's gotten. Do not hold back," I tell her. She lets out a cry of "Rinaaa!" to show she understood, before smiling at Ribombee and Lillie.

"Primarina, use Dazzling Gleam!" I order. Primarina covered herself in a rainbow coloured sphere and charged at Ribombee.

"Ribombee, use Protect!" Lillie calls out. Ribombee throws up a green sphere to block the Dazzling Gleam, causing Primarina to back flip out of the move and land on her tail.

"Ribombee, use Dazzling Gleam!" Lillie orders.

"Prima, Dazzling Gleam again!" I order. Both Pokémon cover themselves in rainbow coloured spheres and charge at each other, crashing into each other. However, Primarina managed to overpower Ribombee and sent it flying backwards.

"Now! While he's off balance! Prima!" I call, before pulling up my Z-Power Ring.

"Sing like you've never sung before! Channel Sparkling Aria...  _Into Oceanic Operetta!_ " I roar as I strike the poses for the Z-Move. Prima stands upright on her tail and begins to sing, forming a giant water bubble above her head...

...And far above it, Ribombee was hovering, with a smirk on his face.

"Ribombee! Use Protect and drop into the water bubble!" Lillie calls. The Bee Fly Pokémon forms a green shield around his body and does a backflip before dropping into the Z-Move, the impact knocking it into Primarina and causing it to detonate on her. I look on in shock as Ribombee flies back to Lillie looking a little worse for wear. Primarina looked hurt, but stands back on her tail, bows to Ribombee and laughs, clearly appreciating the irony of being hit with her own Z-Move while complimenting Ribombee and Lillie on their counter.

"What?! How did she do that?" Zossie asks. Dulse stays slient, in awe of what he just saw.

"You've learned to counter Z-Moves. That is impressive," I admit. Lillie beams at me.

"Thank you, Sun. I had a good teacher. Now, it's time to show you our Z-Powered Form!" she yells, pulling out her Z-Power Ring.

"Ribombee! Channel Bug Buzz...  _Into Savage Spin Out!"_ Lillie screams as she strikes the poses for the Bug Type Z-Move.

"Prima, Protect quickly!" I yell. Primarima forms the green shield around herself just before Ribombee cocoons her in webbing. Ribombee slams Primarina into the ground before swinging her around and launching her, moving into position to strike.

"Prima! Launch yourself to the right!" I yell. I see the cocoon lurch to the right as Primarina obeys my order...

...Right into the path of Ribombee.

The cocoon smashes straight into him as Ribombee slices the cocoon open. Primarina and Ribombee both fall to the ground from the blow. Even with Protect up, Primarina had still taken major damage from the move while the combined damage of being clipped by Oceanic Operetta and taking a direct blow from his own Savage Spin Out were beginning to take it's toll on Ribombee.

"Ribombee!"

"Primarina!" Both Pokémon stagger to their feet. Now it's Ribombee's turn to laugh at the irony as Primarina bows with a smile on her face, content with evening the score with Ribombee by countering his Z-Move.

"Sun can counter Z-Moves too? How? They aren't supposed to be able to be countered!" Zossie shouts now, in shock at the fact that me and Lillie had both done the impossible.

"It must be a sign of how strong they've become. If they can counter Z-Moves..." Dulse mutters to himself. Neither me or Lillie pay any attention to the words of the Ultra Recon Squad, too focussed on our battle.

"Dazzling Gleam!" we both shout. Primarina and Ribombee collide once more, with Ribombee being knocked back again.

"Do it again!" I yell. Prima charges at Ribombee.

"Protect!" Lillie calls. Primarina bounces off the shield and lands on her tail again, letting her hair down with a broad smile on her face as she knows what's coming next.

"Now! End it with Hydro Cannon!" I order. Primarina fires off a massive torrent of water at Ribombee.

"Protect again!" Lillie calls. Ribombee attempts to get the shield up, but fails and is blasted into the lake as a result.

"Ribombee!" Lillie yells as she runs towards the lake. Fearing the worst, I let out Poipole and instruct it to retrieve Ribombee. Poipole flies over the lake and picks up Ribombee gently, who takes off after a moment and flies to Lillie, giving her a hug to show he was okay.

"Lillie, I'm so sorry," I tell her apologetically as I run up next to her. She doesn't respond, as she's busy tending to Ribombee's wounds. I turn around and walk back to Dulse and Zossie, worrying that I'd gone too far in our battle.

"Zzt! That was a good battle!" Rotom tells me.

"Show's over," I tell them. Rotom returns to my bag.

"Is something the matter?" Dulse asks. I throw Primarina a Poké Bean and return her, and walk back over to Lillie without answering, who's now sat with Comfey and Ribombee, attempting to brush and clean them. Noting that she wasn't talking, I stayed silent and watched her tend to her Pokémon.

"...That went about as well as I expected, to be honest," Lillie finally admits as she returns her Pokémon. I don't say anything. What could I say? I hear footsteps moving away and getting quieter as Dulse and Zossie decide to leave us alone to talk.

"Sun, if I keep training, will I be as strong as you?" she asks now. I want to tell her that it's not about being strong, but I know that won't help here.

"If you keep training and having fun with your Pokémon and your friends, you will be stronger than me soon," I reassure her. However, Lillie stands up and looks at me, her frustration now showing in her eyes.

"But it's not enough. I thought I was strong now and you beat me so easily-"

"Lillie, you are already very strong. A lot stronger than you were when we faced Team Rocket back at the Aether Paradise. Remember, you've still got a ways to go on your Island Challenge yet. I completed mine. Once you complete yours, you'll be as strong as me," I tell her honestly. She looks like she has more to say, but then she's stopped by Poipole nudging her.

"What? Poipole, what are you-" Lillie begins to ask before a final nudge by Poipole knocks her into me. Grabbing her arms to steady her, I give Poipole a pointed look as the Ultra Beast giggles at his antics.

"You okay? Sorry about Poipole," I apologise before I feel her trying to hug me. I release her arms and wrap mine around her as I hear her let out a frustrated sigh as she wrapped her arms around me. Neither of us move for a few seconds.

"This must be why Poipole kept nudging her, she must've really needed this," I think. Before I can say anything, she lets go and does a fist pump.

"Thank you for the battle, Sun. Don't worry, we'll come back stronger than ever. Then you'll see our true Z-Powered Form!" She says happily with eyes filled with determination now.

I smile and hold up a hand for a high five. "I'll look forward to it. Don't make me wait too long."

Lillie smiles and gives me a high five. "Don't worry, we won't."

_Character Ages:_

_Sun: 14_

_Lillie: 14_

_Dulse: 18_

_Zossie: 15_


	4. Charizard's Counterattack

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Movie time! Lillie is having a movie night with Sun and Hau. Surely it's gonna be nice and relaxed, right?

**C** **harizard's Counterattack**

I flew down to the ground, close enough to begin skimming the top of the waves before Charizard slowed and began to land on the familar platform. As I jumped off the Ride Charizard, I saw a second Ride Charizard begin to land. I smiled and walked over to the other Charizard as mine took off.

"One of these days, I'll beat you in a race," the rider stated as he hopped off the Charizard.

"Yeah, when you learn to take reasonable risks, Hau. Crashing head first into a Wailord is not a reasonable risk," I say. Hau laughs.

"Says the person who flew between two Gyarados using Hydro Pump on each other," he retorts. Now I laugh.

"I didn't get knocked off though. Come on, we need to get changed," I tell him. We walk through the entrance.

"Welcome to the Aether Paradise, the home of the Aether Foundation. Hau, Sun, if you are looking for Miss Lusamine, she is on the Conservation Floor." the clerk kindly explains. We nod, say our thanks and head for a empty room to change. Out of our Ride Gear and in our normal clothes we leave the room and ride the elevator to the next floor up.

"Greetings, Hau and Sun," Lusamine greets us. Next to her, Faba scowls.

"Hey, Lusamine," I say, ignoring Faba completely. "Any luck with Mohn?"

"We've spoken a few times, but no luck with bringing his memory back. Whatever happened in the Ultra Wormhole must've caused more damage than we thought," Lusamine says sadly. I frown

"But at least you guys can see him whenever, right?" Hau says. Lusamine nods.

"That is true. We will be forever in your debt for informing us of where he currently resides, Sun," she admits. I smile.

"He's your husband and Gladion's and Lillie's father. You guys deserved to know." Faba scowls again.

"If the old coot wasn't so stubborn we could use the Isles at the Poké Pelago to help the Foundation.." Faba begins to grumble as me and Lusamine glare at him.

"That "old coot" is my husband, Faba," Lusamine now had a terrifying look on her face, scary enough to make a Gyarados run in fear.

"I really think you should stay quiet Faba. You don't have an assistant to protect you now," I warn him as I show him that I have Froslass' Poké Ball in my hand. Faba decides to take the sensible option and shut his mouth rather than risk facing a sadistic Ice type with a grudge and the lady who could stick him on cleaning duty for a year.

"I'm gonna go find Lillie..." Hau says slowly as he begins to back away.

"Don't bother, she's not here," Lusamine snaps. Hau immediately begins backing away much quicker and hits the down button on the elevator as fast as he can, afraid to do anything that might incur the wrath of Lusamine on him.

"I thought we were supposed to be hanging out here..." I begin to say.

"Yeah, well she's not here. Good thing too, I'd rather not deal with that brat." Faba mouths off. This time I don't bother warning him, releasing Froslass. The Snow Land Pokémon looks around before spotting Faba. Her eyes immediately begin burning with fury at the man who humiliated her so many times over the course of our adventure as she charges up a Thunderbolt.

"No! Sun, please! Call it off!" Faba shouts.

"Nah. You had it coming, Faba," I say.

"Lusamine, please!"

"Sun."

"What?"

"Make sure she doesn't hit the other Pokémon."

The floor was filled with many loud girly shrieks and the cries of a furious Froslass as the Foundation's last line of defence began running around the conservation floor, trying to avoid the wrath of the ghost.

_Half an hour later..._

Froslass lets out a bout of manic laughter as she looks at the charred man in front of her.

"No... No more..." Faba says weakly as Froslass charges up another Thunderbolt.

"Enough," I say, returning Froslass to her Poké Ball. "Now, Lillie isn't here?" I ask Lusamine.

"Yes. She wanted to arrange a movie night at the mansion here at the Paradise, but we have a meeting with some sponsors here tonight, so as a result, Professor Kukui arranged to have it at his Labratory instead," Lusamine explains.

"A movie night? Haven't done those in years..." I mutter as I turn away.

"Your father's company will be one of the sponsors we are meeting tonight," Lusamine mentions. I stop and smirk.

"If that's the case, you'll probably end up meeting one of the other CEOs instead of him. Dad set off to open a new branch in another region about two weeks ago. He's very hands on when it comes to the company," I tell her as I walk back towards the elevator.

"Very well. Enjoy the movies, Sun. Look after Lillie as well," Lusamine says.

"Will do. Enjoy meeting the sponsors, Lusamine," I say as I call the elevator. As the elevator begins to descend I see Faba beginning to stand with a relieved expression on his face.

"Don't worry Faba. Froslass will be back soon," I mutter.

_Four hours later..._

The sun had began to set as I arrived outside the Professor's lab. I'd gone into Hau'oli and perused the shelves at the local LVM for potential films to watch and had grabbed a couple to suggest. Lillie had called on my way back to apologise and inform us of the change in plans. I'd told her it was fine and had explained to her what had transpired in the Aether Paradise.

"Froslass didn't hurt the other Pokémon did she?" Lillie had asked.

"No, but she slapped and then threw his Hypno at him before he could order an attack," I had admitted. She'd burst out laughing at that.

"Well, as long as he isn't too badly beat up. I want to talk to him when I get back," she said. I assured her he was still walking and we said our goodbyes. I walked up the door of the lab and knocked. The door soon opened.

"Sunny boy! I beat you here this time," Hau says. I smile and walk in the door.

"So where's Lillie?" I ask.

"Up here. Getting everything set up," an annoyed voice calls from the loft.

"Dude, you should see the TV Lillie has. It's huge!" Hau babbles excitedly. I smirk and climb up the ladder to see a person stood behind a massive curved TV. I look behind it and find a very frustrated Lillie attempting to wire the TV up.

"Hey, Lillie. You need some help?" I ask.

"Yeah. Shine a light on there, will you?" she asks. I let Rotom out of my bag and instruct him to shine a light on where I was pointing.

"...Had the cables the wrong way round," she mutters.

"I'd have thought you'd have servants to do that, Lillie. Or Sun," Hau jokes as he climbs the ladder, only to be scared back down by the glares me and Lillie are giving him.

"Hau, unless you wanna do anything helpful please keep quiet and out the way," I respectfully tell the man. Hau takes the advice on board and keeps quietly out the way as me and Lillie work on setting up the TV.

"And done," I say. Lillie breathes a sigh of relief as I hold a hand up for a high five.

"That was way more complicated than it should've been," she says as she high fives me.

"Agreed. Is the popcorn sorted out yet?" I ask.

"I put it in before I started trying to get this to work," Lillie responds. Before I can ask, I can hear a voice chirp from downstairs "Who left popcorn in the microwave? Hah! Hey Sun, they didn't even turn the microwave on!" Lillie dons an utterly defeated facial expression as I go towards the ladder.

"Probably Kukui. Set it off will you please? I'm gonna find a bowl for our Pokémon," I call as I descend the ladder. I hear the microwave get turned on as I arrive in the kitchen.

"Yo, is everything alright with Lillie?" Hau asks. I shrug.

"How come you weren't helping her with the TV?" I ask him.

"I was, just she was getting annoyed and I was trying to help and we had a minor setback-"

"By setback he means he dropped a DVD case on his foot, stood on my foot and then tripped over me while hopping about," I hear Lillie's voice call from the loft. I smirk and look at him.

"...Yeah, that. But it's good that you are here, Sun. Would've been weird without ya," Hau admits.

"Gladion still in Johto?" I ask. Hau nods. "Figures." I open the cupboards and find a few bowls for Pokémon. "Reckon Kukui left some food for the Pokémon to eat?

_Ten minutes later..._

We'd finally gotten the TV set up and, after changing into our pyjamas, had set up a small table next to the couch for us to keep the popcorn. I was sat in the middle of the couch while Hau and Lillie was sat on either side of me. Hau had attempted to sit next to Lillie, only to be jabbed and pushed out of the seat by Poipole and Ribombee, who'd then jabbed and pushed me into his seat, much to Hau's annoyance.

"What, you two the chairmen of the seating arrangements?"

I'd pulled the films I'd picked up from LVM and put them on the table, as had Lillie and Hau.

"So, we've got Togepi's Day Out, Singing in the Drizzle, Sharpedo, Sharpedo vs Tyranitar, Charizard's Counterattack and Yamask of the Dead. Thoughts?" I asked.

"Sharpedo? I'm not sure the effects hold up well in that, or Sharpedo vs Tyranitar," Lillie said.

"But Sharpedo is an amazing thriller though," Hau countered. "And the fight scenes are amazing in Sharpedo vs Tyranitar."

"Singing in the Drizzle? I loved that film when I was younger. Me, Gladion, mother and father used to watch it all the time," Lillie said.

"Always wanted to watch it," I admitted.

"Sun... You've never watched Singing in the Drizzle?" Lillie asked, her eyes wide in surprise. I shook my head.

"That settles it, we are watching Singing in the Drizzle."

"What about after that?" I had asked.

"Yamask of the Dead? Maybe when it's Halloween. Togepi's Day Out?" Lillie had asked.

"Nah, not wanting to watch a baby Pokémon run around a city tonight," Hau had said.

"Guess that leaves Charizard's Counterattack," I had shrugged. Lillie had moved to put Singing in the Drizzle on as Poipole, Ribombee and Leafeon had gotten comfortable next to their bowls of food.

"I'll try not to sing along," Lillie had said.

Empathsis on the word "try". Good thing she could actually sing.

_One iconic musical and three quarters of a action film later..._

A rainbow coloured mist had begun to form around Metagross as he continued his efforts to push back the falling meteor. The mist knocked off the Scizor and Garchomp from the meteor, sending them flying to safety.

"What's this? Is your Mega Evolution energy resonating with mine? So much willpower here... Will it be too much for us to bear? With that said, though, I can sense something. An emotion... But how? How can we sense each other's emotions? Is it due to the energy that surrounds us? Or is it something more, a sense of understanding only we can obtain due to our Mega Evolutions? ...In spite of the danger, it's not fear I'm sensing... It feels more warm, it's like I'm sensing peace!" Charizard observed. Metagross ignored him, focussing more on pushing the meteor away than what his rival had to say.

"Fascinating. A Steel type such as yourself possesses a heart filled with such warmth, Metagross! But even those with warm hearts such as yours still have the potiential to destroy our home. Why are you blind to this?" Charizard asked.

"I am not blind to the danger, Charizard. I choose to believe that this warmth can be shared with the world. That within each and every Pokémon lies a heart that contains the same warmth that surrounds us now. That is why we must show them this warmth, this light, that resides within our hearts!" Metagross had answered. The rainbow mist had shot up and arced towards the other half of the meteor, pulling the half Metagross had been pushing away from it's current course.

"The meteor has changed it's path! It is no longer on a collision course!" a Scizor had shouted. Unnoticed by the survivors, a small rock had shot up from the rainbow mist and had begun racing around the world, leaving a rainbow trail in it's wake.

"Well, that was fun," I said as the credits began to roll.

"That was amazing. Lillie, what did you-" Hau began to say, before noticing that Lillie had fallen asleep next to me.

"How long has she been asleep?" Hau asked me.

"I think she fell asleep near when the Braviary had attacked the Porygon2. I'm guessing she exhausted herself singing to the Drizzle film," I say. Hau looks at her for a moment.

"She's adorable, isn't she?" I snap out of my drowsiness to look at Hau. "Huh?"

"Lillie. She's adorable, isn't she?" he asked again. I shrug, too tired to have this conversation. "Yeah, I guess. We should get some sleep too." Hau looks at me before nodding.

"Where are you gonna sleep, Sun?" he asked. I look at the sleeping figure on the other side of the couch.

"Here, I guess. If I move from here, she'll wake up." Hau looks down for a brief moment before smiling.

"Good idea. See you in the morning." Hau quietly crept away and down the ladder. I look at Lillie, who's still sound asleep. I gently ease myself into a more comfortable position for me to sleep in on the other side of the couch while making sure my movements didn't disturb her. I closed my eyes and began counting Mareep, as I had so many times before when I slept out in the wilds on my journey.

_Eight hours later..._

I woke with a start. I wasn't sat up against the couch like I was while I was asleep now. I looked around and see that Lillie and Ribombee have both vanished. I immediately climb to my feet and look around, only to see Poipole flying in front of me.

"Poipole, where are the others?" I ask it. The Ultra Beast starts pointing downwards, indicating that they were downstairs. I climbed down the ladder to see that Lillie was sat on one of the couches, brushing Ribombee.

"Hey Sun. Hau just went outside if you are looking for him." Lillie says.

"Thanks. Did you enjoy the films?" I ask.

"Yes I did. We need to do this again. And thank you for not disturbing me while I slept, I needed that rest," Lillie says with a giggle.

"No problem. We'll definitely do it again," I tell her as I walk out of the lab with Poipole in tow. I spot Hau on my way out and make my way down to the beach where he is skipping rocks.

"Hey Hau. You okay?" I ask. Hau turns around and smiles.

"Yeah, what's up?"

"You tried to talk about Lillie again last night."

"Oh, I did? My bad. I was tired."

"Hau, what's going on? It's the third time you've tried to talk about her," I ask now. Hau looks away and sighs.

"It's nothing, Sun," he says. I'm getting tired of Hau ducking the question and so I send out Bisharp.

"Bisharp, can you keep an eye out for Kukui for Lillie for a bit? I'm gonna go for a walk with Hau," I ask the Sword Blade Pokémon. Bisharp salutes and walks towards the lab. I gesture to him to follow me.

"Hau, come on. You keep trying to ask me what I think of Lillie. Once I can understand, but you keep doing it. What's really going on?" I ask him.

"If I tell you, you can't tell Lillie. She'll get really mad if she finds out I told you," he says.

"I swear by Arceus, I won't tell Lillie." I tell him. He looks uncertain, but begins to speak.

"Lillie... She really cares about you. Like, more so than she does for me or Hapu or anyone else. She really likes you. She has done for a long time, Sun. She doesn't want to tell you because she doesn't want to ruin the friendship she has with you. I kept asking because I wanna figure out how you felt about her so I could help her put this behind her." Hau explains. I don't respond. I'd had suspected she liked me, but figured I was just reading the signals wrong.

"...Well?" Hau asked. I stay silent, trying to figure out what to say to Hau.

"...Honestly, I always suspected it. As to how I feel... I don't know. I need time to think." I admit. Hau frowns, but nods in understanding.

"What about you?" I ask.

"I moved on a long time ago, Sun. Don't worry about me, just look after her, okay?" he responds. I nod as Hau turns around.

"I'll send Bisharp back to you and go and help Lillie clean up. You come back when you are ready, yeah?" Hau sets off back to the lab as I turn around to look out over the ocean. Poipole lands on my shoulder and looks at me with a quizzical look on it's face.

"So it was true after all. What do I do now?" I ask myself. I stare out to the ocean until the sounds of footsteps causes me to look next to me, where Bisharp now stands, saluting me.

"Thank you, Bisharp," I tell him. He drops the salute as Poipole flies down to greet him, exchanging a fist bump with the Ultra Beast. I release all of my other Pokémon and turn to look at them.

Poipole does a headspin and holds it's hands up in happiness at having me and the team here in this situation.

Larvesta gazes at me with a curious look on his face, wondering why I have a worried look on my face.

Froslass rolls her eyes and folds her arms, waiting for me to talk.

Bisharp salutes me before returning to a soldier's posture, awaiting orders.

Lopunny gives me a quick hug before stepping away, a worried look taking over her face due to my worried look.

Primarina smiles at me, with a kind look in her eyes.

These guys had helped me fight through the trials. They helped me take down Necrozma when it was wreaking havoc on top of Megalo Tower. They had helped me become the first Champion of Alola. They helped stop Giovanni and his Team Rocket.

But now more than ever, I needed their help.

"Guys..."

"What should I do?"

 

_Character Ages:_

_Sun: 14_

_Lillie: 14_

_Hau: 14_

_Lusamine: 43_

_Faba: 49_


	5. A Show for the Aegis

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Receiving tickets to a show, Sun invites Lillie, Guzma and Plumeria to see a concert with him. However, Lillie has other worries on her mind.

**A Show For The Aegis**

"Sun!" I groan and roll out of bed. I had been up training all night and I'd only managed an hour's rest before my mom came into my bedroom to talk to me about something. I picked myself off the floor and sat back on the bed, looking at my mother who had a package in her hand.

"Sun, I know you were trying to sleep, but I just got this package off the Delibird courier. It's addressed to you. Have any of your friends said anything about getting you anything?" she enquired. I shook my head, as far as I could remember none of them had said anything to me.

"Huh. Well, open it then! Let's see what you've got," Mom said excitedly as she passed me the package. I ripped open the package and found a small box inside.

"A box? What's in the box?" Mom asked. I shrugged and opened it. Inside were four tickets and VIP passes. I grabbed a ticket out and looked at the name on it.

"Aegis-blade? What's an Aegisblade?" I ask.

"Zzzt! Aegisblade are a band who originate out of Kalos! They recently released an album called Through the Decidueye and are on tour playing songs from the album!" Rotom sqwarked as he flew out of my bag.

"Huh. Didn't they go on tour supporting the Go Rock Quads a year back?" Mom asked.

"That's right! They had just signed on with Meloetta Records then!" Rotom replied.

"So these are tickets to a concert? Okay, but who'd send me tickets to a concert?" I ask. I check under the VIP passes and find a small note. I pulled the note out and begin to read it.

_To Sun,_

_I hope you have enjoyed your time in Alola. I hear you have become the Alolan Champion now? That's great to hear. I was able to purchase these tickets using the money I obtained during my travels in Unova. The company branch here is making a profit and I've been doing the Gym circuit here to promote the company, so don't worry about me or yourself money wise. I'm not sure if you are into this band but it can't hurt to try something new. I will try to visit Alola soon but I can't promise anything. Stay safe over there okay?_   _Say hi to your mom for me_

_Love,_

_Dad_

"...It's from Dad. Huh," I say. Mom raises an eyebrow.

"He sent you that? I'm not surprised, he did say he was making a fair bit of money on his run of the Unova Gym circuit," Mom commented. I yawn and just shrug.

"We can talk about it later, I'm gonna go back to sleep," I tell them, lying back down on my bed.

"Okay. Sweet dreams," Mom says as she leaves the room and Rotom goes back into my backpack. I soon doze off, exhausted from the training.

_Six hours later, by Kukui's Labratory..._

I skip a third rock across the waves, watching it skip twice before plopping in the water. Primarina swims up to where it landed before popping out the water and doing a backflip. Next to me, Poipole does a backflip in imitation while Lopunny watches on, a thoughtful look on her face.

"Who should I go with?" I think to myself. "Hau and Gladion are busy and I can't ask Lillie to watch the show since she probably doesn't know who Aegisblade are..."

"Hey cousin!" I turn around to see Professor Kukui strolling up to me, Rockruff walking next to him.

"Hey Professor. Something wrong?" I ask.

"Yeah, you've been standing out here for an hour just looking out over the ocean. What's bothering you?" he asks back. I shrug.

"Just... thinking." I say. Kukui looks at me with a raised eyebrow. "I got some tickets to a show off my father earlier, so I'm debating who to go with. I know Hau's off training again and Gladion just set off back to Johto, so I can't exactly just go with them," I explain. Now Kukui looks thoughtful.

"Sun! Professor Kukui! There you guys are!"

We both turn to see Lillie walking towards us, an Alolan Vulpix walking along behind her.

"Lillie! It's good to see you!" Kukui calls out to her. I smile.

"Hey Lillie. Who's your new friend?" I ask, crouching down to the Vulpix.

"I caught her outside Mount Lanakila. She's adorable!" Lillie squeals as the Vulpix moves to hide behind her. I frown and look behind me, where Primarina snuck up and scared the Vulpix without me noticing.

"I see. Prima, you may need to say sorry to Vulpix, I think you scared her," I tell her. Primarina lowered her head and let out a sad noise, which was followed by Vulpix responding with a happy yip.

"It's fine, Primarina. She's fine," Lillie says to Primarina. Lopunny crouches down to Vulpix and holds out her paw to Vulpix, who shakes it with her own paw.

"Figures you'd get on with the Vulpix," I joke, earning a giggle from Lopunny.

"So why are we all out here?" Lillie asks. I frown and look away.

"Sun has gotten tickets to a show, but isn't sure who to go with, what with Hau and Gladion off training," Kukui explains.

"I'll go," Lillie says without hesitation.

"Just like that? You don't have any training to do? You don't even know what the show is?" I ask, surprised at her eagerness.

"Yeah. It's a show, and you want people to go with. It'll be a fun time anyway," she explains. I smile. Of course she'd be up for it. Why had I doubted her?

"...Thank you Lillie. That leaves two more," I say. Lillie beams at me while Kukui smirks.

"What?"

"Nothing." I shake my head. Crazy man always seemed to smirk whenever Lillie and I did stuff. It was like he found some amusement out of us hanging out. Or he knew what Hau knew, which didn't make me feel better about his smirk.

"What about inviting Guzma and Plumeria along? We haven't seen them in a while, so why not?" she says. That did seem like a good idea, plus they seemed like the kind of people who'd enjoy whatever Aegisblade made, so it seemed like the best idea.

"Sure. I'll call them up and let them know. Here." I pull my bag off of my shoulder and routed around for a moment, before pulling the box out of my bag. I grabbed out the ticket and the VIP pass and passed them to Lillie, who shoved them in her bag.

"Rotom, can you call Guzma please?" I ask. Rotom flies out of my bag and looks at me.

"Certainly! Zzt zzt!" Rotom's screen flickered as a telephone symbol appeared in place of his face, which wiggled for a short while before the icon changed, showing a video feed of Guzma's room with a little video of me, Lillie and Kukui in the corner.

"Yo yo, it's ya boi Guzma." the white haired man answered.

"Guzma, hey. I was wondering if you and Plumeria would be up to coming to see a band called Aegisblade with me and Lillie. I got tickets off my dad and-" I got cut off by a chortle from Guzma's side of the call.

"Why am I not surprised the princess is going with the hero somewhere yet again?" Plumeria poked her head into the video feed, smirking. Poipole starts giggling as I look at Lillie in confusion, but she's gone bright red and is looking down at her feet for some reason.

"She wanted to go. Something wrong with that?" I ask. Plumeria lets out an "Ugh" sound and leaves the view of the video feed.

"Someday, you'll get it. I'm down for seeing this Aegisblade band. Plumes?" Guzma asks the lady next to him.

"Aegisblade? Guz, you know how much I love them. You need to ask?" She responds.

"Cool. We cool, Sun. Drop the tickets at the mansion in Po Town, that's where we are," Guzma cut the call. I turn to face Lillie and Kukui.

"Well, there's all the tickets accounted for," I say. Lillie is still bright red and looking at her feet and now Lopunny and Vulpix are next to her giving her sympathetic looks.

"Something wrong?" I ask her. She looks at me and shakes her head.

"...Wait, why are they back at Po Town?" Kukui asks me.

"Guzma took the place back a few months ago. The whole Team Skull thing became really popular with tourists so they've opened up shop selling Team Skull merch there. It's given the ex Skull members something productive to do and helped bolster Ula Ula's economy, and it's helping to get rid of the stigma that follows those who fail the Island Challenge. They even have a new name, Skull Company," I explain.

"Oh yeah, I remember hearing about that." Kukui gives Lillie a reassuring pat on the back as I pull out my Ride Pager and call up Charizard, the Flame Pokémon landing in front of me shortly afterwards. I return my team and look at her. I frown. Something's bothering her, but she'll tell me when she's ready, I guess.

"I'm gonna go drop these off with Guzma. See you guys later." I say as I take flight.

_A week later, outside the Battle Royal Dome..._

"So, we all here?" I ask. Guzma is decked out in his usual attire, but isn't wearing his jacket. Plumeria is wearing Guzma's jacket over her usual attire, probably to protect her better from the cold. Even so, she's still shivering. Lillie's wearing a white jacket over her usual attire. It was unusually cold tonight, so I'd wrapped up warm in a long sleeved top and jacket.

"Yeah, now can we get inside? I'm turning into a Bergmite here!" Plumeria complained. I chuckle and lead them inside, to where a queue has formed. We join the queue, and spot some Skull Grunts (the poor PR guy wanted them called Skull Company Merchandisers til enough of them had them had graffitied his car to change his mind) at stalls selling Skull merch who we waved at. Then we waited til the queue moved along enough that we arrive at the ushers, who check our tickets.

"Oh, Sun! It's a pleasure to meet you. Right this way, please," they say, leading us along towards the seats where loads of fans are currently stood, waiting for the show to begin. They had taken down the ropes around the ring and the Battle Royal symbol had been replaced with a symbol showing an Aegislash with a shield on it's back with a Doublade crossed in front of it.

"Hope they weren't going for an interesting design," I joke.

"At least we here. Hey, Sun, don'tcha know what they are playing?" Guzma asks. Before I can say anything, Rotom pops out of my bag.

"Zzt! The song listing is right here!" Rotom pulls up a list of songs for the former Team Skull Leader, now owner and CEO of Skull Company (Repping the Skull til our coifiers are full, it's Skull Company, yo!) to look at.

"Hmph."

"Hey Guz, they got In the Midst of Gyarados on this show!"

"Wait, you know this band?"

"Yeah I do! I love Aegisblade!" Plumeria almost shouted, being stopped by Guzma who's noticed that a few people have spotted us and begun whispering amongst themselves.

"Well, at least one of us knows the band," I mutter. The lights go dark suddenly.

"Was there a power cut?" Lillie asks. I look towards the stage. I was about to ask if everything was alright when suddenly-

"AEGISSSSSSS!"

A roar broke out amongst the crowd as I look to see where the cry came from-

"DOUUUUU!"

Another cry. I can see Plumeria barely keeping herself composed out the corner of my eye as I look around.

There.

An Aegislash descended from the roof, carrying a man on it's back, supported by a Doublade. The duo gently lowered the man to the ground as he stepped forward towards the microphone.

"AKALA ISLAND! ARE YOU READY?!" the man screamed into the microphone.

"There he is! That's Lyle Stratis, the lead singer!" Plumeria yelled. How I heard her above the sounds of the Dome I don't know.

What I do know is that there was suddenly this painful screeching sound as the man picked up his violin and began playing it, akin to a Magnemite using Metal Sound. I cover my ears to try and block it out.

"What is that?" I ask.

"He's warming it up!" I hear Plumeria reply.

After a moment or two, the screeching had ended. I took my hands off my ears. Then suddenly, the Doublade split up and began spinning around the Aegislash as the Aegislash held it's shield in front of him. Suddenly, Aegislash turned itself around and slotted itself in it's shield, with the shield behind it's face and the Doublade crossed in front of it.

"AEGISSSSSS!" it roared. Pyro went off behind it causing me and Lillie to jump. Suddenly, I spotted the other members of the band emerging from shadows behind Lyle.

"It looks like they are using Shadow Sneak to appear!" Rotom called as I looked to check on Lillie, who seemed fine. "Starting recording!" I shook my head.

Lyle began playing his violin again, this time a more melodic sound came out, which was joined by the sounds from the electric guitars and drums the other band members were playing.

"That's Critical Strike they are playing!" I hear Plumeria shout. Judging from the reactions it seemed like everyone was enjoying it. This seemed like a decent night out at least.

_Three hours later..._

"...THANK YOU AKALA!" Lyle shouts. Suddenly, all four members disappear back into the shadows along with the Aegislash and Doublade.

"That was different." I observe. Plumeria looked like she'd had the time of her life while Guzma had been enjoying the show, but not to the same extent as Plumeria. Lillie had been quiet through most of it but started having fun towards the end of it.

"Zzt zzt! And I recorded the entire thing!" Rotom sqwarked. I grimaced.

"Are you sure that's legal, Rotom?" Lillie asked. I shake my head again. For a machine, Rotom could do some stupid things at times.

"We'll have to ask permission off the band," I say to them both. We head out the doors only to be stopped by an usher.

"Sun? Can you and your friends come this way please?" I flash a glare at Rotom, figuring we were in trouble because of him, before nodding to the usher. The usher leads us down some corridors before we arrive outside a room. He quickly peeked his head in before poking back out.

"You can come in."

We walk into the room where Lyle is seated and the other band members (I believe their names were Daniel, Steven (not THAT Steven) and Mitchell) were packing up.

"So you two are the Alolan Champion and the CEO of Skull Company?" Lyle asks. I nod, because I have a feeling if this goes wrong Plumeria will never forgive me.

"Yes. Do you mind if I ask some questions?"

"Sure. But promise me something first." I look at Lyle confused.

"Once your questions are finished, I want a battle. It would be an honour to fight Alola's Champion," Lyle says to me. I smile. A Pokémon battle? That should be fun.

"Of course. It would be an honour to fight Aegisblade's lead man," I say to him.

"Good. Now, what are your questions?" I beckon Rotom forward.

"My Rotom decided to record your show tonight. As long as it doesn't send the recording to anyone else, would it be allowed to keep it?" I ask hesitantly. Lyle has an annoyed look on his face but nods.

"Sure. Just don't do it again, it's against the law."

"Zzzt! Thank you Mr Stratis!" Rotom replies. Lyle looks at me as Rotom returns to hovering by Guzma. I look at Plumeria, then back at Lyle.

"My friend here is a huge fan of your band. Would it be okay for her to get a picture with you?" I ask. I can hear Plumeria start hopping with excitement behind me. Lyle's annoyed look vanishes and is replaced with a smile.

"Of course." Plumeria calms herself and walks forward to stand with Lyle as Rotom prepares to take a photo.

"Ready?" Plumeria poses. "And... Photo taken!" Rotom calls out as we hear a click.

"Thank you so much!" Plumeria almost squeals. Lyle smiles.

"That's all. Now, you wanted a match?" I ask. Lyle nods and stands up.

"One Pokémon only, first to be hit loses," he says. I nod and step back.

"Aegislash, rock the stage!" Lyle calls as he releases the Royal Sword Pokémon.

"Bisharp, go!" I shout as I release the Sword Blade Pokémon. He turns and salutes me before adopting a grim look as he faces Aegislash.

"Aegislash, King's Shield!" Lyle calls. Multiple blue hexagons appear in front of Aegislash's shield.

"Bisharp, Protect!" I call. Bisharp surrounds itself with a green shield.

"Smart. Aegislash, Shadow Sneak!" Lyle orders. Aegislash unsheathes and sends it's shadow crawling forward.

"Bisharp, Sucker Punch!" I order. Bisharp darts forwards and dodges Shadow Sneak by stepping to the side before smashing it's hand into Aegislash's sword, knocking it back. Bisharp bows to Aegislash and Lyle, before walking over and pressing the button on his Poké Ball, knowing his work was done.

"Well, you made contact first, so you win. Well played," Lyle says as he extends a hand forward. I return Bisharp's Poké Ball to my belt and turn to him.

"First turn King's Shield was a smart play, though," I say as I shake Lyle's hand. The door opens a bit and the usher pops his head in.

"Mr Stratis, there are more fans waiting when you are ready," he says.

"Can't keep them waiting. It was nice to meet you all," I say. We walk out the room and start heading for the exit past the scores of fans waiting to meet Aegisblade.

_A few minutes later..._

"Sun, thanks," I hear Guzma mumble behind me as we walk away from the arena.

"What for?"

"For bringing us along. Plumes' gonna be happy 'bout this for a long time to come," he says. I smile as Plumeria walks along, talking to Rotom about the band excitedly. We reach the end of the path.

"So, we heading our seperate ways?" I ask.

"Yeah, we better get back to Po Town. Thanks for the day out, Sun!" Plumeria calls as she and Guzma walk off.

"Well, they enjoyed themselves," I say as I turn to Lillie, who looks exhausted.

"Yeah..." she responds. I frown.

"Come on, I booked a room at the Pokémon Centre before you all arrived. We can stay there for tonight." Lillie nods and we walk into the centre. I check in with Nurse Joy and then we set off to our room.

"You think that Lyle guy's violin was a Stradivarius?" I ask as I sit down on one bed while Lillie sits on the other. I set my bag down and my team's Poké Balls by my bed. I look up and see that Lillie has that worried look on her face again.

"Is everything alright, Lillie?" I ask.

"It's nothing, Sun..." she replies. I shake my head.

"Clearly it's not nothing." Lillie sighs, knowing I'm not gonna leave it.

"It's just... I see Hau and Gladion training to become better trainers. I know Hau's hoping to impress Tapu Koko and become Kahuna of Melemele once his grampa, Hala, steps down, and Gladion's looking to become Johto Champion. I see Guzma and Plumeria running Skull Company and making a profit. I can see Hapu working to please Tapu Fini as the Kahuna of Poni Island. And yet I don't know what I want to do. All I can do is follow you..." Lillie trailed off and her cheeks turn red again.

"You are saying that like I don't follow you when you take the lead. Remember Poni Island? That was all you, Lillie. I followed your lead, and it helped save your mother. It's okay to not have a future planned out yet, you've still got time to think about it," I tell her. She still looks uncertain.

"Remember what we talked about on Exeggutor Island? I told you I didn't know what I wanted to do next after the championship battle. I still don't. I've been here defending my title and wandering the islands while everyone else goes about following their dreams. Guzma and Plumeria have Skull Company. Gladion's doing the Gym circuit in Johto to get stronger. Hau's training on Poni in the hope he can be picked as Kahuna once Hala steps down. Hapu's working as the Kahuna of Poni Island. And here I am, sat in a room after a concert with no idea what I'm going to do tomorrow while my father explores Unova and all of my friends are off working towards their dreams. So don't worry about not knowing what you want to do, because I don't either," I explain to her.

"Regardless of what we do, everyone will support us. So take your time to think about it, Lillie," I finish. Lillie looks at me now.

"...Thank you," she says, with uncertainty written on her face.

"Lillie-" Suddenly, Rotom flies in front of my face with a message written on his screen.

"Oh yeah, need to do that thing." I say. Lillie looks at me in confusion as I quickly pick my bag back up and dig through the contents before pulling out a box and setting the bag back down.

"What is that?" she asks.

_A few hours prior, in Kukui's Labratory..._

_"Sun? Do me a favour please?" Kukui asks. I hold up my hand to Poipole to tell it to stop practicing Fell Stinger for a moment._

_"Yeah, sure." I say. Kukui picks up a present from his desk._

_"Give this to Lillie after the show finishes and say it's off you. It's her birthday today and it'll make her day," he tells me._

_"Okay..." I say as I put the box in my bag._

_"If she asks, say you got it from a stall in Konikoni and that you thought it'd go with her outfit," Kukui explains. I nod._

_"Okay. Poipole, back to practicing Fell Stinger!" I order._

_In the present day..._

"Sun?" Lillie asks, a worried look on her face.

"What? Oh, yeah, happy birthday Lillie," I say, holding the present out to her. The worried look vanishes and is replaced by a huge smile.

"You remembered!" She says happily. She quickly grabs the present and opens it. Inside is a lei.

"A lei?" Lillie asks, picking it up gently.

"Zzt! It is a lei from a Comfey! Comfey are known to give their flowers to people they like! So I guess Sun's being like a Comfey! Zzt zzt!" Rotom explains as Lillie puts it on her head. Inwardly, I sigh. Classic Rotom.

"...I'm not sure if it's true that Comfey do that, but I saw it at a stall in Konikoni and I thought you'd look good with it. Plus it goes with your outfit," I say, scratching the back of my head. Rotom has made this a lot more complicated than it needed to be.

"Really?" Lillie asks.

"Yeah." I say. Without warning, I get tackle hugged by a flying Lillie, sending us both flying into the wall next to the bed I'm sat on.

"Woah! You okay?" I ask, but the impact seemed to have had no effect on Lillie as she was babbling out thank yous and how much it made her happy. I sighed and patted her back. She liked it, at least. I looked at Rotom, who giggled before returning to the bag.

"...And I was worried I was annoying you by wanting to go with you to see the show because Plumeria made a joke the other day about how I'm always going where you are going and-" I suddenly remembered a film I used to watch with where a man had been reunited with an old friend and used a hug to comfort them when they were feeling unsure about themselves.

It couldn't hurt to try, right?

So I cut off Lillie's babbling with a hug. Clearly she wasn't expecting that since her glomp just eased up significantly. She turned to face me.

"Listen to me. Don't ever think you are annoying me. I'm more than happy for you to go with me wherever we go. I mean, I followed you through an island filled with powerful Pokémon despite us knowing nothing more than some old legends that related to the island. I'll happily go anywhere with you, you know that right?" I say to her. I turn around so that it's more comfortable for her to be hugged. And I know what I want to say now.

"No matter where. We're a team, we'll put on a show for the ages no matter where we end up, okay? I wouldn't trade you for the world. You mean too much to me for me to want to go anywhere with anyone else," I tell her. She looks at me.

"Sun..." Lillie says. I knew what she was going to say.

"I know, Lillie," I say as I move my forehead against hers. It's not what most guys would've done in this situation, but it's something I'm more comfortable with, and Lillie understands it's intention, and the words that it says for me. She returns the gesture, promptly reapplies her glomp and starts crying. I don't know why she's crying, so I do what I saw that guy do in that film and hold her closer. I'll have to talk to Kukui and Mom about this when we get back.

"We've got this. We're a team. Always remember that."

_Character Ages:_

_Sun: 14_

_Lillie: 15_

_Plumeria: 16_

_Guzma: 18._


	6. The Poni Initiative

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hau's malasada habit has gotten out of hand. Hapu has an idea to get him to focus on training and helping others out, and Sun is all for it.

**The Poni Initiative**

"I swear to Arceus, if this keeps up I'm gonna lose my mind."

"It's not like you can do anything about it, Gladion."

"But this is the third time now! Someone should tell him the truth." Gladion groaned in frustration as he paced back and forth outside the Malasada Shop. Hau had recently started ditching us to go eat at the Malasada Shops on the islands we are on. Not only had it derailed training and time spent with our friends since we had to keep finding him, it also meant that Hau had started to noticably put on weight. The boy himself hadn't noticed, but everyone else had. Hala had simply laughed and told us to leave him to it when we had complained.

"I could ask Lillie if she could have a word with him." I offered. Gladion shook his head.

"Only once we have tried. She's been on cloud nine ever since that concert and I'd rather not ruin that." I avoided Gladion's eyes. Ever since that night, she had been wearing that lei and had been happier than ever. While I was glad to see her happy, the issue still remained we hadn't properly talked about what we wanted to do next. All we knew was that we wanted to decide it together as a team.

A team.

Those words still weighed on my mind. All everyone else knew was that I'd taken her to a concert and given her the lei that she now wore as a birthday gift. No one else knew about what we'd said to each other. No one else knew what she was hoping for.

What I was hoping for.

I hoped to keep it that way until we could have a proper talk about what our next step would be.

And it also meant that I wouldn't have to worry about having an overprotective Gladion after me until then.

I was shaken out of my thoughts by the bell ringing as the door opened and Hau stepped out with a bag of Malasadas. His face notably dropped when he turned and saw the disappointment on my face and the annoyance on Gladion's face.

"Oh, hey guys. I was just on my way-"

"Save it. This is the third time now." Gladion cut him off. Hau backed up a couple of steps in alarm. I winced and let Lopunny and Poipole out, to make sure Gladion didn't lose his temper or that Hau didn't run off.

"Hau, talk to us. What's going on?" I ask. Hau looked at us apprehensively.

"I'm sorry guys, I really am. But they had Mythical Malasadas on today and I really wanted to try one!" he answered honestly. I sighed and covered my face.

"Hau..." I begin to say before Gladion takes a step forward, prompting Lopunny to run and stand in front of him with a disapproving look on her face.

"Is that all you think about? Food? We're over here training and you are off hunting for food?" Gladion asked incrediously. I shook my head.

"No, I do train as well..." Hau had begun to say again before Gladion turned away and stalked off.

"What's with him? He's being moodier than normal." Hau asked.

"He's just annoyed because he wanted to do training and you let us down again." I told him.

"You know I don't mean to intentionally do it, Sun." he responded.

"I know. But maybe you need to take a break from Malasadas." I suggested.

"But why? Malasadas are great." Hau replied.

"They are. But it's causing you to fall behind on your training and it's affecting us as well. We can't do our training because we're too busy trying to find you." I told him. Hau shook his head. I sighed and shook my head.

"Meet me and Gladion on Poni Island tomorrow, Hau. Please show up this time." I said as I began to walk off.

"No problem! See ya Sun!" Hau called as I walked away with Lopunny and Poipole in tow.

_An hour later, in Sun's room..._

The phone icon on Rotom's screen jiggled for a few moments before changing into an icon with lines coming out of the phone, showing it had connected to the other person.

"Hapu here." Hapu answered.

"Hey Hapu, it's Sun." I said.

"Sun, hey! Been a while, friend. I heard you the one that gave Lillie that lei she always wears nowadays." Hapu responded.

"Yeah, I did. It was a birthday present." I told her while scratching the back of my head.

"Yeah, she mentioned that when she came to Poni a few days ago. Looked happy as anything!" she replied. I smiled, I was glad to hear from others that she was still happy about it.

"But I'm guessing you didn't call to chat about her. What can I help you with?" Hapu asked. I filled her in on Hau's Malasada problems. Hapu was silent for a few moments until an idea came to her.

"What if he was to help me patrol Poni for a few days? He could get in his training and it'd help me out tremendously." she offered.

"That sounds like a good idea. Would me and Gladion be okay to help as well?" I asked.

"Of course. The more the merrier!" she answered with a chuckle.

"Thank you Hapu. I'll see you tomorrow then." I tell her. The call ended and Rotom returned to my bag as I looked down at Larvesta, who was snuggled up on my lap. I gently stroke his head as the bedroom door opened and Lopunny walked in the room having finished helping Mom, followed by Mom.

"Hey Sun. Kukui dropped by earlier today." Mom said. I look up at her.

"Oh? What'd he want?"

"He came by to see if you were home. Wanted to thank you for giving Lillie that gift." she explained. I scratched the back of my head as Lopunny giggled.

"Yeah, a lot of people have been saying that." I admit. Mom smiles before wrapping me in a hug.

"You've made her very happy, Sun. Considering how she was when we first met her, I'm not surprised they are thankful for her being so happy nowadays." Mom told me. I smile before she lets go and turns around.

"I'll see you in the morning. Don't be up too late." she says as she walked out the bedroom, closing the door as she went. Lopunny walks over and gives me a hug before walking to her Poké Ball and returning herself. I give Larvesta one final pat on the head before returning him. I look out the window and smile at the sight of the moon, before I close the curtains and settle down for the night.

_The next day..._

"Sun. Been a while, friend." Hapu said as we walked towards her. We'd arranged to meet by her house so we'd know where to meet.

"It has, Hapu. How have you been?" I respond.

"I've been well. The life of a Kahuna is tough, but worthwhile." Hapu takes notice of Gladion. "So who's your friend?"

"Gladion." Gladion answers.

"Gladion. I see. Well, any friend of Sun's is a friend of mine." she says. "Now, who are we missing?"

"Hau. Doesn't surprise me, he's probably stocking up on Malasadas." Gladion says as I shake my head.

Sure enough, a few minutes later Hau comes running up, holding a bag of Malasadas.

"Sorry I'm late! There was a massive queue-" Hau begins to say before Hapu snatches the Malasadas off of him and quickly mounts her Mudsdale.

"Now y'all are here, we can get started patrolling Poni. Hau, you'll get these back at the end of the day. Wouldn't want you to put off anymore training to stuff your face, now would we?" Hau seems to be having trouble picking his jaw up from what Hapu just did while Gladion has covered his face with his hand, trying desperately to hide the smirk from watching the spectacle. I shake my head and call my own Mudsdale and hold a hand to Gladion to help him up onto Musdale. He ignores it and climbs up himself as I roll my eyes.

"Typical Gladion."

Hau seems to have recovered slightly as he calls a Mudsdale for himself to use.

"Hau, you will patrol the Vast Poni Canyon. Sun and Gladion, you two will take the Poni Plains and I'll handle the Poni Wilds. We will meet back in Seafolk Village when the sun begins to set." Hapu explains. I nod and steer Mudsdale towards the path to the Poni Plains.

"Today's already been worth it just to see Hau get his Malasadas taken off him." Gladion says as we enter the Poni Plains. Nodding because I wasn't sure what to say, I hop off Mudsdale and start looking around as Gladion hops off and the Mudsdale walks away.

"I'll take the west, you take the east." I tell Gladion. He nods curtly as we split off to patrol separate sides of the Plains.

Shortly after we split off, I run into an Petilil who looks like it had a bit of a bad fight. I call out Lopunny to help settle it as I tend to it. Good thing Lillie had nagged me to pack medical supplies when she found out I was going to patrol Poni.

Lopunny talked to the Petilil for a short while before petting it on the head and smiling, and the Petilil runs off to the north. Lopunny began running after it, gesturing to me to follow her.

A short distance later, we find a man battling a bunch of Petilil with a Houndoom. I signal to the man to stop as his Houndoom unleashes a Flamethrower.

"Sir, what are you doing? I've just found a badly injured Petilil and apparently it's your doing." I ask him politely. It could be he was doing training and doesn't know his own strength.

The man turns to glare at me.

"None of your business, kid. Get lost." He orders another Flamethrower. I reach into my pocket and circle my hand around my Key Stone.

"Sir, those Petilil are already defeated. You don't need to keep attacking them." I warn him. Now he whirls around and starts walking towards me.

"I told you to get lost. I guess I'm gonna have to hurt you now." Without a moment's hesitation, I tap the Key Stone to begin Lopunny's Mega Evolution. The Lopunnite she wears as a necklace begins to glow as the energy from the Key Stone and Lopunnite combine and envelop her, causing her to transform into her Mega Lopunny form. As the energy dissipates around her, she lets out a yell that signifies she's ready to fight.

"Houndoom, Flamethrower!" the man orders. Lopunny leaps into the air to avoid the Flamethrower without a command.

"Hi Jump Kick." I tell her. Without hesitation, Lopunny extends a leg and charges down at Houndoom, connecting with Houndoom's head and driving it into the ground, knocking it out with one blow.

"What? How?" the man yells as he returns his Houndoom. I smirk and shake my head as Lopunny prepares to square up.

"You thought you could hurt the Champion?" I ask him. His face contorts with fury as he prepares to run off.

"I'll remember this,  _champ_ ," he spits the last word with venom as he proceeds to run off towards Seafolk. I give Lopunny a thank you hug as she returns to her normal form and then pull out medication to tend to the Petilil who were hurt by the Houndoom. They are all thankful and run back off into the tall grass as I put the supplies back in my bag. I put the bag back on my back and turn to Lopunny. She smiles as I return her to her Poké Ball.

_Many hours later..._

I arrive in Seafolk with Gladion in tow. In the sunset, the sea looks beautiful. We walk towards the Pokémon Center to go and heal up and restock on supplies.

"So what happened?" I asked Gladion.

"Couple of injured Pokémon, stopped one from falling off a cliff, nothing interesting." he says.

"I see. I dealt with a guy who kept badly hurting Petilil. Rescued some stuck Pokémon, usual." I say.

"..How many moves?" Gladion asks.

"One." I answer. He nods and turns to Nurse Joy to get his Pokémon healed up. The door opens and I hear footsteps behind me. I turn to see Hau and Hapu walking in.

"Sun, Gladion. How was patrol?" Hapu asks.

"Not too bad." Gladion says.

"Nothing major." I say. Hapu nods.

"Erm, Hapu? The Malasadas..." Hau begins to ask.

"Oh them? Well, they smelled so mighty fine that I couldn't help but eat them all! Ahahaha!" Hapu chuckles as Hau's expression changes to that of heartbreak. She pulls out the bag and holds it in front of him, showing they are still there. Hau hungrily grabs a Malasada and devours it in moments, then doubles over and starts choking from eating too fast. Gladion smirks, walks over to Hau and slaps him hard enough on the back to knock him face first into the floor, which helps Hau to breath normally again.

"Maybe now you'll learn to pace yourself and not eat Malasadas all the time." Gladion says. Hau clambers back to his feet and glares at Gladion.

"Maybe when you learn to not be so grumpy." Hau shoots back. I snort and cover my face.

"Well, I'll be heading back to home now. See y'all tomorrow?" Hapu asks.

"Tomorrow? We're doing this again?" Hau asks.

"Yep. For a week." Gladion answers. Hau makes a dramatic act of falling over at that. Gladion glares at him.

"If you'd actually attended training we wouldn't have to do this." he snarks at Hau. I uncover my face and look at Hapu.

"Yeah. Later Hapu." I say. She waves before walking out the door. I walk over to Hau and Gladion.

"Guys, come on. Let's go home." I say to them. Hau nods eagerly and rushes out the door. Gladion and I shared a glance and then walked out after him. Hau had already taken off on a Charizard and was flying away. I stopped to admire the sky.

"Night time is always pretty..." I say. Gladion doesn't respond. I pull out my Ride Pager when he taps me on the shoulder.

"We need to talk." he says. The tone of his voice suggests it's important.

I smile at him. "About what?" I ask.

"About Lillie. She told me what you two said to each other at the concert." My face drops.

Oh, no.

_Character ages:_

_Sun: 14_

_Hau: 14_

_Gladion: 17_

_Hapu: 16_


	7. An Endless Waltz

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A mysterious investor has summoned Sun to the Aether Paradise to finally meet the Alolan Champion. Curious as to who this person is, Sun joins the festivities of the Aether Foundation alongside Lillie to find out who wants to meet him so badly...

**An Endless Waltz**

"If you keep fidgeting, we'll never get you to look nice."

"Why do I have to look nice anyway?"

"Because the investor specifically asked for you to be invited. And we wouldn't want our Champion to look like he's been sleeping in the wilds for a month." Looking down to avoid Miss Wicke's disapproving glare, I sighed and stayed as still as I could as a team of stylists work on fixing my hair and cleaning my face. I really didn't need this. I'd gone through three different challengers today and now here I was being prettied up so that Lusamine could convince an investor to put more money into the Foundation.

I didn't understand why they had asked to meet the Champion. Most people would think there would be no connection between the Champion of Alola and an organisation which dedicated itself to protecting Pokémon. Yet apparently, during a call they had made the request. Lillie had told me her mother had told them flat out that she couldn't do that and the investor simply had told her to make sure I showed up to today's celebration or he'd pull the funding and hung up.

And now here I was, waiting to be paraded out to a bunch of business people in suits like I was a show animal. My only comfort was that I wasn't the only one who was going through this.

Though I imagine Lillie was probably having a worse time than me.

"Mr Sun, please look at me." One of the stylists ordered. I looked at him with an empty look as he finished fixing my eyes to hide the bags from the late night I had training Froslass last night. The stylist was young, most likely early twenties. They were known as the Snowbelle Kings, and were flown in from Kalos with the deal of making the Champion of Alola and the daughter of the President of the Aether Foundation look amazing. If they succeeded, it'd be a massive reputation boost for them.

Too bad I wasn't model material.

"And all done. What do you think, Miss Wicke?" the stylist with the man bun asked. I think his name was Pierre, or something. It was definitely Kalosian.

"I think we have ourselves a beautiful Champion. What do you think, Sun?" Wicke asks as another stylist, this one with short hair and a full beard, held a mirror in front of me.

The man that stared back was not the kid who'd started his adventure by being woken up by a Meowth attacking him because he'd overslept. My hair, which usually hung messily around my head, was brushed back and looked like it had been freshly cleaned every day. My face was grime free, and looked like I'd slept soundly for the entirety of my adventure. This man, this person looking back at me in the mirror was not the boy who'd taken down Ultra Beasts and Totems, nor was he the boy who'd flown through alternate dimensions and other worlds to stop a creature from stealing the light from the world he came from.

This was a man who was made to look how he was expected to look.

"I look like I'm supposed to be getting married." I comment. Wicke gives me a disapproving look as the stylists laugh.

"Well if you ever do get married, we'll happily do this for you again." I give them a genuine smile for that.

"I won't be getting married any time soon, but I'll keep the offer in mind." I say as I stand up, ready to head off.

"Hang on Mr Sun, you need to put the suit on." Another of the stylist calls my attention to the suit on the wall, which had been specially picked out by the team for me to wear. I sigh and roll my eyes.

"Right, I'll get dressed." I say. The stylists and Miss Wicke walk out the room and close the door after them. Leaving me alone with the suit. It wasn't anything special, a black blazer, tie and suit pants with a white shirt and black loafers. "Loafers." I think. "What an odd word."

Better hurry up. I'd rather not have the stylists here helping me change.

_10 minutes later..._

I knock on the door to let them know I'm finished. Wicke opens the door to let me out. After looking at me for a moment, she shifts my tie around a bit to make it look tidy and walks ahead with me following her. She comes to a stop outside a door.

"Wait here." she tells me. I stay there and wait as she walks off down towards a different flight of stairs. I look down at my feet, clad in the material of the loafers. The material of the suit feels rough, heavy, as opposed to my normal clothing. How could people stand wearing this kind of outfit all the time?

I'm distracted from my thoughts by the sound of footsteps. I look up to see Miss Wicke walking back towards me.

"Here we are." she says to the person behind her. And steps aside to reveal Lillie.

Evidentally, the stylists decided to go with the theme of making her look like an innocent princess for tonight. Her hair, which normally stays up in it's Z-Powered Form, is loose and cascading around her shoulders. The stylists have put her in a long white dress, longer than the ones her mother made her wear. She doesn't have the lei on but rather, she has a necklace with a petal from the lei embedded inside the teardrop shaped pendent on the necklace. I make a mental note to get her another lei when tonight is over.

Naturally, the sight of us being all dressed up provokes a reaction out of us both. Namely, Lillie goes bright red whilst I look down at my feet to avoid staring.

"You two are acting like a couple of crushing teenagers." Wicke observes. The bluntness of the statement causes us to laugh and immediately relieves the awkwardness.

"I guess we know who the winner of the prettiest person in the room will be." I joke.

"Who?" Lillie asks, her face returning to it's normal colour.

"Me, of course." I respond. Now Lillie laughs. Wicke interupts us with a glare and we stop laughing.

"When you two are finished, it's time to go in." she says. We both nod and switch to our serious faces. Wicke steps forward and opens the doors and walks through. I walk on ahead with Lillie walking behind me, and we both take in the sight.

The room was massive, even larger than the Champion's Room in the Pokémon League. There was one long table sat towards the back of the room. I could barely see Lusamine sat at the head of the table, talking to someone at the back. The figure looked like he was wearing a black suit and had short brown hair. I could faintly make out another blonde at the table opposite the person.

"That's the investor, the one in the black suit." Lillie whispers to me. I nod and start walking forward. Time to see who wanted my presence so badly.

As we approached the table, Lusamine spotted me and pointed me out to the investor, who stood up and looked at me as I approached. He seemed familiar, but I can't figure out from where. Lillie squeaked from behind me. I turned to ask her what was wrong, but she'd already set off towards the blonde opposite the investor. Getting a closer look at them, I recognised him immediately.

And watched as Lillie and her father reunited for the first time in a long time.

"She still recognises Mohn." the investor commented. I walked over to the investor and pull the chair next to them out and sat down as Lillie talked to Mohn.

"We've had some success getting him to remember certain things. He remembers me, Lillie and Gladion, but he doesn't remember his research." Lusamine explains. "Or our wedding." she adds bitterly.

"It's progress." I say. Lusamine nods before remembering something.

"I should introduce you. Alex, this is Sun, the Champion of Alola." Lusamine explains as Alex extends his hand out. I shake his hand with my own.

"And Sun." she says, looking at me.

"This is your father."

I immediately do a double take. I look at Alex closely. The face looked similar, but the hair and beard was longer than when I last saw him four years ago.

This was my father?

"Dad?" I say hesitantly.

"Hello, son." Alex says, smiling at me. I realise that my mouth was flapping and closed it. I close my eyes to gather my thoughts.

A million questions raced through my mind. Why had he waited til now to meet me? He was supposed to be in Unova, why was he here? Why didn't he go to our house and visit me and Mom at the same time?

"I'm sure you have a lot of questions, but first," Alex says before pulling up a phone and punching in a number.

"Hello? Yeah, it's Alex. They did what I asked. Double the funding." Alex promptly ended the phone call and turned to Lusamine.

"Thank you, Lusamine. I hope we can continue to do business together." he says to her. She smiles at him.

"Now, we'll have to wait for everyone to arrive for the celebration to officially start. In the meantime, we can catch up on what's happened over the time we have been seperated and I'll answer any questions you may have." Alex says. I nod, and begin telling him about my adventures.

_Half an hour later..._

"So you had to face a Mewtwo owned by Giovanni? And it Mega Evolved?" Alex asks. I nod my head.

"Yep. Almost defeated me. Thank Arceus for Twinkle Tackle." I say, earning a chuckle out of my father.

"That sounds stressful. No wonder you prefer to avoid dealing with buisnessmen." he says. We fall into an easy silence that is broken by Lusamine standing up.

"May I have your attention please?" she announces. All the people in the room turn to face her.

"We are here today to celebrate the Aether Foundation's 25th anniversary. That is 25 years of Pokémon preservation!" she announced as everyone at the table applauded.

"I would like to thank all of the staff here for your hard work over the years. My husband, Mohn, and my children, Lillie and Gladion, for supporting me though the good times and the bad-"

Me and Lillie glanced at each other and I snorted. Alex gave me a annoyed look for that.

"-and I would like to thank our investors for enabling us to continue our Pokémon preservation efforts and finally, I would like to thank our Champion, Sun, for aiding us in our preservation efforts." Everyone claps again.

"Now, the food will be served on tables around the room. Those who wish to dance may dance and those who wish to relax may relax. Enjoy your evening everyone, for today is a day to celebrate!" she announces. Everyone starts talking and begin to stand up as the staff bring food out. Some of the guests release Pokémon to spend time with.

"Shall we get food?" Alex asks. I nod and stand up. Taking a cue from everyone else, I let Bisharp and Lopunny out of their Poké Balls. Bisharp salutes me and Lopunny runs over and hugs me.

"These are your Pokémon?" Alex asks. I nod.

"Bisharp, Lopunny, this is my dad." I tell them. Bisharp bows to Alex while Lopunny bobs a curtsy to him.

"Very formal." Alex notes. I shrug.

"I train them well." I say. Alex smiles and let's out a Pokémon of his own. The Ninetales my dad started his journey with materialises in front of me.

"Hey Ninetales." I greet the Fox Pokémon. She walks over to me and gently nuzzles me when I crouch down to her. Bisharp and Lopunny walk over and greet the Fox and she nuzzles them as well.

Our meeting is interrupted by the grumble of our stomachs. We both laugh and head towards the tables with food. The first one we arrive at has a few other business people at it. I try to quietly grab a plate to get food so I can get out the way, but they notice and turn to me.

"Is that the Champion?"

"It is!"

"And with one of the CEOs of Silph Company, no less."

"Karen, take a picture of me with them." A middle aged man starts walking towards me. Bisharp immediately moves in front to protect me.

"Calm down, people." Alex warns them. "Kid's not used to this."

"Very well. Kid, can I take a picture?"

"My name is Sun. And I'd rather you didn't, please." I tell him. The man gives me a dirty look and turns away, muttering about how famous people act like they are better than everyone else nowadays. I sigh and add food to my plate and head towards the exit to the outer part of the Paradise.

The cool air feels good and it's nice to be out of that loud room. I sit down on a step with Bisharp and Lopunny and look over at the sun, which was beginning to set.

"Sun." I look over my shoulder to see Alex standing next to me.

"Dad, go back to the party please. I need time alone, away from all of that lot." I tell him.

"I know, Sun. I wasn't going to drag you back in there. I know how it feels dealing with them." he says.

"So why ask for me to be there? You know where Mom and I live, you could've seen us together there." I ask.

"I wanted to surprise you first. I'm going to visit your mother tomorrow, but I thought this could be a bonding experience." he admits. I stay silent, trying to will away the oncoming headache.

"I'm sorry, Sun." he says.

"Don't be. You couldn't have known this was gonna happen." I tell him honestly. I look back at the sun and feel him pat me on the shoulder and walk away. I close my eyes for a moment, sigh and take a bite of the food I had grabbed before I stormed off.

It tasted pretty good, all things considered.

I'm not sure how long I was sat there trying to relax until I hear the distinctive clack of heels behind me. Probably another businesswoman trying to get a photograph.

It's not until I hear Bisharp give a quiet grunt and move away from me that I bother to open my eyes and look at who it is.

"Hey, Sun." Lillie says as she sits down next to me. She looks haggard.

"Hey, Lillie." I say to her. I offer her the plate of food and she takes a bite out off the food, pulling a disgusted grimace after biting it.

"Ugh. Never liked Rosigma cake" she admits.

"That's what this is?" I ask.

"Yep. Enigma and Roseli Berries ground up and mixed with sugar, flour, Nanab Berries and butter to make a cake. Father loved this." she explains. I nod.

"He has good taste in cake. Might need the recipe then." I joke.

"So why are you out here?" Lillie asks.

"Got overwhelmed. My dad seemed to think inviting me to a party would be a good bonding experience." I explain. Lillie nods, then does a double take.

"Wait, the investor's your father?" she asks.

"Yep." I respond. We sit in silence for a moment.

"...Well, I guess it explains why he wanted you here so badly." she finally says. I nod and put the plate down and stand up.

"Where are you going?" Lillie asks.

"I'm going for a walk. Can't stand being here." I tell her as I turn away to walk off.

"Wait!" I look back to see Lillie removing her heels and standing up. She quicky walks over to me and grabs my hand.

"Come with me. I know a place we can both go to get away from this." And with that, she drags me along with Bisharp and Lopunny following after us.

"But what about Mohn? Don't you want to spend time with him?" I ask.

"He told me he's going to be staying here for a few days. I can spend time with him then." she reassures me. Knowing arguing with her would be pointless, I try to keep up with her as she leads me towards the mansion.

"The mansion? Won't this be the first place they look for us?" I ask. She doesn't respond, but releases my hand and walks up to the staff member in front of the mansion. After a brief chat they walk away from the doors and she gestures to me to come to her.

"Come on, he won't be distracted for long." she says. She grabs my hand and leads me through the mansion doors. Once there, she quickly leads me through another door.

"I'm sure that's usually locked." I say.

"It is. I asked Gladion to unlock it for me." she replies.

"Won't that show up in like security records?" I ask.

"If it does, Gladion uses this place for training anyway so people will assume it's him." she answers.

"Here we are." Lillie releases my hand again and hits a switch. The lights come on, revealing a massive room that resembled a dance theatre. The walls were impeccably clean and the floor was covered in wooden planks. There was a raised platform at the other end of the room, similar to a theatre's stage. It seemed like this room was built for the performing arts.

"Woah..." I say. Lillie giggles.

"You like it? This room was built so me and Gladion could be taught how to sing, and dance, and act." she explains.

"That explains why you were able to sing so well when we were watching Singing in the Drizzle." I say. She smiles.

"...Thank you, Sun." she says.

Then it clicked.

"Wait, Gladion can sing and dance too?" I ask. Lillie nods.

"Yep. Even wanted to become a performer before the events with Silvally happened." she says.

"That would have been a sight to see." I admit. Lillie giggles before taking my hand again.

"So, Sun..." she says, looking at me coyly "Will you dance with me?"

"I have no idea how to dance." I tell her. She smiles and guides me into position.

"I'm a good teacher. How about we start with the waltz?" she asks. I nod.

"When I put my right foot back, you put your left foot forward. Then, move your right foot to the side so it's the same as my left foot." she instructs me. I follow her instructions.

"Now, move your right foot backwards and move your left foot sideways so it's the same as your right foot." I perform those steps and return to my original position.

"Well done. That is what is known as a box step." Lillie says, smiling at me.

"That was fun." I say, smiling at her.

"Well? Shall we keep practicing?" she asks. I nod and we keep practicing. I seem to have gotten it down as Lillie doesn't need to repeat the instructions anymore. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Bisharp and Lopunny attempting to mimic us by doing their own waltz. Over time, our movements become more fluid, less robotic. We are moving as if we are one.

"There's a lot more complex steps to this, but I think we'll cover them another time. I'm happy doing this." she says. I smile and keep going over the steps in my head, making sure I don't mess up the movements.

Until she suddenly stops moving. I trip over her foot and knock us both down to the ground.

"Sorry, Lillie." I apologise. I clamber back to my feet and hold out my hand to help her up. Out of the corner of my eye I see that Bisharp and Lopunny have stopped their waltz to look at us.

"It's fine." she says as she gets up. Without warning, she wraps me in a glomp. I return the hug and we stand there, wrapped in our embrace.

"I wish we could be like this forever..." Lillie whispers. I stay silent. We have not had the chance to be alone together since the concert and truth be told, I didn't want this to end.

All the battles I fought, all the hard days and tough times.

They were worth it to be right here with her, right now.

So we stayed in the embrace for as long as we could, until Lillie pulled her head away and looked at me.

"Sun.."

I looked at her. Our eyes met, and we both understood what we wanted.

Suddenly, the clacking of heels and the giggles of someone else started growing louder as someone began to come down the stairs. We broke apart and I whirled around to see who it was.

And Lusamine came down the stairs, followed by Mohn.

"Hello Sun. What are you doing here?" she asked.

"Why is Lillie here...?" Mohn began to ask before it clicked in their heads. Both looked at me as Lillie stepped out from behind me.

"It's not what you think! Sun got a bit overwhelmed at the party so we came here to get some peace and quiet!" Lillie explains in a panicked voice. Lusamine has an unrecognisable look on her face. I knew I should leave to end the awkwardness of the situation.

"I'm sorry. I'll go." I say to them. I return Lopunny and Bisharp and I prepared to go upstairs and out of the Paradise. I start climbing the stairs.

"Sun." I freeze. This is probably the point where they'd tell me to stay away from Lillie.

"...Take the stairs up til you hit the ground floor, then take the door on your right. Go to the third door down, there's a guest bedroom there you can use. I'll have Wicke move your stuff there." Lusamine says.

"..Thank you." I say. I continue climbing the stairs as Lusamine begins to ask Lillie what was going on. Taking the route Lusamine told me about, I walked into the bedroom and collapsed on the bed, letting out a groan of embarrassment.

Of course the one time me and Lillie get time to ourselves her parents stumble across us. Gladion was gonna be furious that we got caught. I sigh into the pillow and sit up, removing my blazer, tie and loafers.

There was a knock at the door. I stand up and open the door.

"Hey, lad. Mind if I come in?" Mohn asks. I nod and let him in. He walks in and sits on the chair.

"So, what was going on there with Lillie?" he asks. I explain everything that had transpired since the party had started. Mohn stayed quiet for a while after I finished.

"That matches up with what Lillie told us, yep." he says.

"Mohn, I'm-"

"Listen, Sun." Mohn cuts me off. "I have no problem with you and Lillie being happy together. Lucy on the other hand... She's gonna need time. She told me what happened after I vanished and I know how protective she is over Lillie after everything that happened. She trusts Lillie's judgement and she knows you won't hurt her. But she already lost me once before and that hurt her badly. She doesn't want to see Lillie hurt by you or anyone else, so she's gonna need time." he explains.

"Thank you Mohn." I say. He pats me on the shoulder.

"Now, you get some sleep. Today's been a long day." he says to me. I nod and walk towards the bed as he walks out the room and closes the door. I settle down on the bed, and drift off to sleep.

_The next morning.._

Dressed back in my normal clothes, I wait outside the mansion. Mohn had told Dad that I'd meet him outside the mansion. I looked around before a familiar voice says "Hey" behind me.

I look to my side and see Lillie stood next to me. Her hair is back in it's Z-Powered Form and she is dressed in her normal attire.

"Hey you." I say to her. "How was Lusamine?"

"It wasn't fun." she admits. "I got a massive lecture off her for sneaking around with a vistor in tow. Apparently it's a security risk and I don't know what danger I could've been in."

"Does she know about what Gladion did?" I ask. She shakes her head. Any futher conversation is interrupted by the arrival of my Dad.

"Hello, Sun." Alex says.

"Hey Dad." I say.

"Hi". Lillie says meekly. Alex smiles at her.

"So, you ready to go?" he asks. I nod.

"I'll see you later, Lillie." I tell her. She smiles at me.

"Be careful, Sun."

"You too." Dad gives me a peculiar look as Lillie walks back into the mansion.

That was going to need explaining later.

I call up a Ride Charizard, which lands in front of us. I clamber onto the back and Dad joins me on the Charizard. The Flame Pokémon takes off and I guide it towards my house. After a few minutes of flying we arrive outside the house.

Dad walks up to the door and knocks. The door opens and Mom does a double take.

"Alex?" Dad nods. Mom wraps herself in a hug around him. He returns the hug.

"I'm home, Elena."

_Character ages:_

_Sun: 14_

_Lillie: 15_

_Mohn: 45_

_Lusamine: 44_

_Wicke: 45_

_Alex: 39_

_Mom: 35_


	8. The Sunne's Gift

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> At the request of Professor Burnet, Sun travels into Ultra Space to try to find the supposed opposite world to theirs. What will he find?

**The Sunne's Gift**

I looked at the various portals flying by us as I rode on Nebby's back through Ultra Space. Professor Burnet had told me to keep an eye out for a particular portal while on my way through that Nebby was able to access.

In theory, this portal would allow us to access a world which was the mirror counterpart to ours, where night was day and day was night. With the recent lack of challengers for the League I had agreed to try to find it for Professor Burnet's research but so far, we had had no luck.

The theory sounded mad to most people, but I had seen Ultra Space and had visited other worlds before. The idea of a mirror world was not that farfetched.

"Any sign of it, Nebby?" I asked the Solgaleo that was currently carrying me through Ultra Space. The Sunne Pokémon shook his head and kept running. I continued to look at the portals ahead and-

"La-LONNN!" Nebby let out a cry and ran at full pelt towards a particular portal.

There it is.

"Come on, Nebby!" I yell, and Nebby responds with a powerful leap that takes us through the portal...

...And onto solid ground. I look around. The sky was black, but many stars lit up the sky above us. It looked like we were in a canyon area.

"This looks like the Altar..." I murmur, before Nebby lets out a low rumble.

"What's wrong?" I ask him. I look in front of us.

A black haired girl in a flowery top and shorts was looking at us in utter confusion. Next to her, a blonde haired man clad in a ripped black top and pants was kneeling, a small box in one hand, his face baring an expression of confusion, anger and embarrassment.

"Excuse me, would you to happen to know where we are?" I call out.

"This is the Altar of the Moone." the lady calls back.

" _Guess this is the right place."_  I think to myself. I hop off Nebby and return it, walking up to the duo. The man immediately stands up and puts himself between me and the girl.

"I don't know who you are, but you are not getting near Selene," he growls.

"Easy. I'm friendly. The name's Sun, I'm from a different world to you." I explain. The man doesn't back down.

"Wait. Another world? Like the Ultra Megalopolis?" the lady, Selene, asks.

"Sort of. I'm from Alola, but in my world this is the Altar of the Sunne." I explain.

"Gladio, it's okay. I think we can trust him." Selene tells him. The man looks unconvinced but backs down anyway.

"I'm sorry to have interrupted you two. Let's start over. My name is Sun. I am from Kanto, but moved to Alola a few years ago." I tell them, holding out my hand to them.

"I'm Selene. I moved from Kanto to Alola a few years ago as well. This is my boyfriend, Gladion." Selene explains as she shakes my hand. Gladion looks like he is blushing, but covers his face with his hand to avoid being noticed.

"Pleasure to meet you, Selene and Gladion." I say. Selene smiles at me while Gladion hides behind his hand.

"Now, do either of you know where the Lake of the Moone is?" Both of them gave me blank looks.

"Right, sorry. The Lake of the Sunne." Gladion's face lights up with rememberance.

"Yeah, the old ruins next to Ula Ula Meadow. Soliera and Phyco were researching them to see if there was a link to Necrozma." Gladion explains.

"So you did listen to them talk about it!" Selene exclaims.

"A little bit. Father used to be into this stuff before he vanished. I think I've picked up some of his interests." Gladion explains with a shrug. Selene pouts at him.

"Liar. You like this stuff." Selene tells him. Gladion opens his mouth to fire off a retort when-

"Right, I'm off to the Lake then. Thank you for your help." I tell them, calling up Charizard from the Ride Pager. _"I'm surprised the Pager works here. Must be the opposite world."_ I think to myself.

"Wait!" I turn around. "We're coming too!" Selene tells me.

"Selene, don't impose on others. Sun might not want us with him." Gladion warns her. I look at them.

"Sure, why not? Could do with some locals to help me in case I get lost." I tell them. Selene's face breaks out into a smile.

"Thank you, Sun." she says, pulling out her Ride Pager and calling up a Charizard of her own. The two Charizard land in front of us and Selene and I climbed onboard, with Gladion climbing on the back of Selene's.

"We all set?" I ask them. Selene and Gladion nod at me. We motion for the Charizards to take off and start flying towards Ula Ula Island.

_An hour later..._

I can hear Selene whooping behind me as we fly down towards Route 16. Pulling up my Charizard to land I arrive outside the Pokémon Centre next to the Zygarde Lab. A few moments later, Selene's Charizard lands next to me, allowing her and Gladion to hop off.

"Now I remember why I hate riding on Charizards so much..." Gladion mumbled as he climbed off.

"What, you not a fan of my flying skills?" Selene asked teasingly. Gladion just went to sit down and didn't respond to her, causing Selene to pout.

"You okay, Gladion?" I ask him. He just holds up a hand telling us to give him a minute.

"Might as well go heal up. I wanna battle some while we are passing through Ula Ula Meadow!" And with that, Selene charged into the Pokémon Centre. I looked at Gladion, who was just starting to get back to his feet. I held a hand out to help him up and he ignores it and gets up.

" _Typical Gladion. Guess some things don't change, even in different worlds."_  I think to myself as I head into the Pokémon Center with Gladion behind me.

"Welcome to the Pokémon Center!" Nurse Joy greets us. Selene has given her team to the nurse already and is sat at the cafe drinking a Moo Moo Milk. Gladion walks over to her as I look at the screen, looking at Selene's team as they are healed.

"Decidueye, Lycanroc, Crabominable, Lunala, Silvally, Torracat... Not a bad team." I murmur to myself. Selene walks back over to Nurse Joy to collect her Pokémon. I walk over and give my team to the nurse, who takes them to be healed.

"So we are near the Lake of the Sunne. Do you know what you are looking for?" Selene asks me as I walk over to them. I shake my head.

"Something related to wormholes or Ultra Beasts, hopefully. I need something as proof this world exists." I tell her. Selene looks thoughtful.

"So who's the Champion here?" I ask Selene and Gladion. Gladion gestures to Selene.

"So Selene's Champion?" I ask. Selene nods happily. The chiming of the Pokémon Center tells me my team is ready. I walk over to the nurse and retrieve my team as she sends me off with a "We hope to see you again!"

"You two ready?" I ask Selene and Gladion. Selene climbs off the chair and runs full pelt out of the Pokémon Center towards the Meadow, causing Gladion to sigh and shake his head, putting money on the counter to pay for Selene before hopping off his chair and walking over to me as we walked out of the Pokémon Center.

"Selene's a bit of a wild one. If she's not charging around she's usually bouncing on the spot." Gladion explains as we walk into Ula Ula Meadow.

"I can see that." I comment as I spot Selene and her Torracat and Lycanroc  _("Midday form." I thought to myself)_  running along the wooden boards at full speed, ignoring the trainer attempting to challenge her to a battle as she went. Soon she had disappeared down the path to the Lake.

"I'm grateful she's here, though." Gladion admits, a small blush creeping to his face. I smirk.

"I can tell. What was the deal with the box?" I ask him.

"Nothing." Gladion snaps, too quickly to actually be nothing. For the sake of not embarrassing him any futher, I walk onwards until I get stopped by the trainer Selene ignored.

"Hey, I'm not letting another run past me! Face me right now!" the trainer ordered.

"Gladly." I tell her. I grab the Beast Ball off my belt.

"Floette, come out!" the girl yelled, unleashing the Fairy Pokémon.

"Poipole, go!" I call out, throwing the Beast Ball in the air and releasing the Poison Pin Pokémon, who does a headspin upon materializing.

"Floette, Magical Leaf!" the girl, Mireille ordered. Conjuring up multiple multicoloured leaves, Floette launches them at Poipole, striking him but doing very little damage.

"Poipole, Iron Tail!" I command the Ultra Beast. Poipole's tail began to glow silver as it flew towards the Fairy Pokémon before spinning and driving it's tail into Floette, knocking it down.

"Wrap up with Poison Jab!" I order. Poipole's head stinger began to glow purple as it flew at Floette and drove the stinger into it, earning a cry of pain from the Pokémon before it fainted.

"Good job, Poipole." I tell the Ultra Beast as it flew over to me and glomped my head in celebration.

"Well that was a mistake..." Mireille concluded as me and Gladion began to walk away towards the path Selene had taken.

"That was impressive." Gladion admits. I smile to myself.

"Thanks. Poipole's a strong Pokémon." Poipole lets out a little squeak of happiness atop my head at that. Soon we arrive at the entrance of the Lake of the Sunne.

"Come on Slowpoke. The Ultra Recon Squad ain't here so let's go!" Selene says as she runs up to Gladion and drags him along into the ruins. Poipole laughs on top of my head at the antics of the couple.

"I know, Poipole. Come on." I tell the Ultra Beast on my head as we walk into the ruins. I can hear Gladion's protests as I walk further along the passage leading towards the exit.

" _This place is just like the Lake of the Moone from my world..."_  I think to myself. Soon, the exit is in sight and as we step out of the passage way and up the steps I see why Gladion and Selene are being so quiet.

Gladion is knelt down on one knee with the small box from before open, a shiny ring on display to Selene, who has a look of utter shock on her face and her hands clasped over her mouth.

I'd never seen someone propose before, and I had no idea what to do. I stood there for an eternity, waiting to see what would happen.

Finally, Selene removed her hands from her face and nodded vigorously, repeatedly telling him yes. Gladion's expression changed to a huge smile as he got up and hugged Selene, before taking her hand, putting the ring on her hand and wrapping her in an embrace she happily returned.

"Congratulations to both of you." I tell them as I walk up. They both turn to face me with sheepish looks on their faces. Before any of us could say anything, Nebby burst out of his Poké Ball, letting out a loud roar upon materializing.

"What's wrong Nebby?" I ask the Solgaleo. Suddenly, one of Selene's Poké Balls burst open. The Lunala let out a screech upon materializing.

"Lunala?" Selene had a confused look on her face now. Neither Pokémon answered us, turning to face each other instead. Gladion protectively pushed Selene behind him as Nebby and Lunala began to pace, circling each other.

Suddenly, Nebby and Lunala let out a roar as they began to glow, shifting into their Radiant Sun and Full Moon phases. The pair engaged their third eyes and stepped towards each other, before touching foreheads, connecting their third eyes.

Both Pokémon launched themselves backwards as a blue sphere began to materialize where they were stood before, glowing brighter until it fully materialized, taking on the form of a familiar Pokémon.

"It's Cosmog..." Selene whispered. The Cosmog looked at me and happily waved it's arms at me.

"A Cosmog... Hey little guy." I say as I walk up to the Nebula Pokémon. Cosmog let out a happy cry and floated over to me, allowing me to pet it.

"Guess I should catch you, then." I murmur to the Cosmog as I take out a Poké Ball. Cosmog let out a happy cry and jumped at the Poké Ball, engaging the Poké Ball's capture system. The Poké Ball glowed red a few times before clicking, signifying a successful capture.

"Thank you, Nebby and Lunala." I tell the legends. Nebby bows his head before walking over to me and nosing his Poké Ball, returning himself. Lunala lets out a low cry.

"That is so cool." Selene squeals. Gladion nods as well as I turn to face them.

"Thank you for accompanying me here. I will be heading back to my own world with Cosmog now." I tell them.

"Come back soon, okay?" Selene asks.

"Be safe." Gladion says. I nod and call up Charizard Glide on the Ride Pager. I return Poipole as the Charizard lands in front of me. I climb on board and set off back to the Altar with Selene waving me off as I go.

I swiftly arrive back at the portal. I call out Nebby and mount him after putting on my Ultra Space gear. Within moments after leaping into Ultra Space, Nebby has found the portal back home. With a final leap, Nebby returns to the Altar of the Sunne.

I look down at Nebby, then at the Poké Ball containing the Cosmog. It seemed unreal that we had found the opposite world, but it had happened. Now I had my own Cosmog.

Now, when Lillie returns from training in Kalos, I can return Nebby to her.

And maybe we can talk about us, at long last.

_Character ages:_

_Sun: 15_

_Selene: 16_

_Gladion: 18_


	9. The Last Day Without You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A festival is held for Hau. Sun plans to attend, but decides to head to the Mahalo Trail first to reminisce over the old days.

**The Last Day Without You**

"So how's married life?" I ask the lady next to me. Selene smiles and shrugs, letting out a contented sigh.

"It's everything I could've hoped for, Sun. Gladion is amazing. I'm really glad I met him when I did." Selene tells me as her smile grows wider.

"You still didn't tell me why you decided to come to my world. Couldn't have been just to visit." I comment.

"No... I wanted to explore this world. See if I could go on the Island Challenge here, see what the differences are between this world's trials and my world's." She admits. I chuckle and look out over the Mahalo Trail. The sky was lit with a blazing orange as the sun was beginning to set. It was definitely a photoworthy view. Rotom seemed to have had the same thoughts as he had been snapping away at the sky, the Pokémon, and me and Selene for the last ten minutes.

I had ran into the Kantonian from another world while coming back from accompanying Hala and Hau to the Ruins of Conflict as Hau underwent the blessings of Tapu Koko to become the Melemele Island Kahuna, as my duty as Champion dictated that I accompany all prospective Kahunas to their ceremonies. There was going to be a celebratory festival tonight in honour of the new Kahuna. Hau had personally invited me to the festival and as Champion, I had no choice but to attend. Still, it was a worthwhile reason to celebrate.

Hau had overcome so much to become the Kahuna over the last seven years. If anyone deserved it, it was him. Everyone had been cheering him on in his battle against Hala to prove his strength to the Tapu. It had been close, but Hau had won and earned the Tapu's approval. I smile as the memory of Hau hugging his grandfather as he celebrated his victory came back into my mind.

"Alola to Sun? Hello?" I was drawn out of my thoughts by Selene waving a hand in front of my face. I turned to face her.

"Yes, Selene?" I asked her. She looked at me with a confused expression.

"You looked like you were miles away there. Something up?" she asked. I shrug.

"I was just remembering old times. That's all." I tell her. Selene frowns at me.

"Lillie?" she asks and then winces as I look away as my expression changes from curiousity to sadness.

It had been three years since she'd left to train in Kalos. Because of the influx of challengers to challenge the League I had been unable to leave Alola to see her. She had promised herself that she wouldn't return to Alola until she had trained herself up enough to become strong enough to keep pace with the likes of me, Gladion, Guzma and Hau. We were all proud of her for striking out on her own journey to get stronger, but to say we didn't miss her would be lying.

We had written letters and called each other every day, but that doesn't really help when what you want is for them to be there with you.

"Not really, but now I am." I admit with a sigh. Selene lowers her eyes.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you, Sun." Selene says quickly, trying to backpedal and apologise for upsetting me. I look at her and smile.

"It's fine. I know you didn't mean to." I tell her. Selene still looks down, but nods in understanding.

"I'm...I'm gonna go see how the festival is doing. You come along when you are ready, okay?" Selene says as she turns to walk back towards Iki Town. I nod and turn to face the view again, my mood dampening as memories I had not thought of in years came back.

I remember how, seven years ago, I had stumbled onto a girl who was quaking in fear because a Pokémon she was trying to protect was stuck on the bridge being assaulted by Spearow. I remember how Popplio and I had ventured onto the bridge, fought off some of the Spearow and shielded the Pokémon from the rest of them, which had led to the Pokémon destroying the bridge and almost sending me into the rapids, only to be saved by the deity of the island, Tapu Koko.

_"Thank you for saving Nebby. I am grateful to you for your help." the blonde girl in the white dress had said._

_"Don't worry about it. What's your name?" I asked her_.

_"My name? It's... It's Lillie." Lillie had told me._

_"Lillie? Nice name. Mine is Sun." I had told her._

" _Oh... Thank you? Your name is nice too." Lillie had squeaked with a pink tinge on her face._

_"Thanks." I had_ _said, a grin on my face over how adorable she had looked._

That had been all that time ago. Since then, we'd laughed, cried, danced and stopped monsters together. And now... I was here, reminiscing on old memories of days gone by while the world kept moving. There was a lemony smell in the air, sort of how her hair had used to smell. I figured it was a remnant from my memories, confusing my senses.

"Lillie..." I whispered to myself. "I wish you were here. Hau is becoming Kahuna like he always wanted. I wish you could see him. I wish you could see this view."

"I miss you, Lillie..." I say out loud.

And from behind me, a voice. "I miss you too, Sun."

I whirl around. There, behind me.

The blonde hair. Not in a ponytail, but now cascading around her shoulders.

The green eyes, glimmering in the sunlight.

Lillie! She was here! She was back!

"...Lillie?" I asked hesitantly, expecting it to be a mirage, a trick of the light. She wasn't here. She was in Kalos. Why would she be here?

"Yeah." She smiles, her usual huge smile.

"...Is it you? Is this real?" I ask again. I can't believe this. She can't be here. She can't be-!

Then Lillie does something that I'd never expect her to do.

Her facial expression shows hesitation, but slowly, she walks up to me, takes my face in both of her hands and gently kisses me.

The feel of her lips on mine... This is real.

This just happened.

Lillie just kissed me.

"I'm-I'm sorry, Sun. It's just...It's just I've waited three years to do that." She admits hesitantly, her face bright red with an unreadable expression.

So I do the most stupidest thing I've ever done in my life.

I kiss her back. Then I hug her.

"You're back..." I whisper. Lillie responds by hugging me back and we stay there.

"After all this time?" I ask her

"Always." She tells me. We remain in our embrace for a good few minutes, neither of us wanting to let go.

But ultimately, we have to. And after we let go, we just stand facing each other, hands intertwined. Both soaking in that after three long years, we were together again.

"Sun... Do you have him?" Lillie asks. I nod, and retrieve Nebby's Poké Ball from my belt.

"Here. He was never mine. He was just waiting for you to come back to him." I tell her. She gently takes the Poké Ball from me and stores it in her backpack.

"...Thank you. For everything." Lillie tells me. I smile at her, before letting go of one of her hands and leading her towards the path.

"Come on, the festival should be about to start." I tell her. Lillie seems hesitant to follow me still.

"...Sun." I turn to face her.

"There's something I wanted to ask you." she tells me.

"Go on?" I say. She has that unreadable expression on her face again.

"I was wondering... Are we still a team or?" Lillie asks, looking down at her feet. I remember the night of the concert, where I had told her that we'd always be a team. Back then, I wasn't sure what to say.

Now, I am.

Smiling despite the fact I was afraid of what I was about to ask, I walk over to her slowly, and lift her chin to face me.

"Lillie... I was hoping we could be more than a team. A couple." I tell her. She looks at me in surprise.

"A couple?" I nod. "Sun... Are you saying you want us to be a couple?" she asks.

"Only if you want us to be." I tell her.

Lillie vigorously nods her head. "Yes, of course I want us to be a couple!" she tells me. I pull her into a hug which she fiercely returns. After a while, we break apart. Still holding onto each other's hands, we make our way down the trail towards the festival.

"There you two are!" Selene calls out as she walks up to me and Lillie. "I was wondering how long you two lovebirds would be." Me and Lillie both blush at that.

"Right yeah, I should introduce you. Lillie, this is Selene. Selene, this is Lillie." I tell them.

"Nice to meet you, Lillie." Selene says as she holds a hand out to her.

"It's nice to meet you too." Lillie tells her as she shakes her hand, both girls smiling at each other.

"Hey you guys!" Hau calls out, waving at us. "Took you two long enough. Come on, festival's starting!" he tells us as we wave back.

"So how should we start?" I ask them as I walked over to them. Hau looks at me with a happy smile on his face.

"How about a battle? Seeing the Champion defend his title would be fun." Hau says. I nod in agreement

"Sounds fair. Who's my opponent?" I ask. Hau opens his mouth to say something when-

"I want a match with the Champion." A voice calls out. Turning to face the source of the voice I see Gladion stalking towards us with an annoyed look on his face.

"Sounds good to me. What do you think, Sun?" Hau asks me. I nod as Gladion walks up next to us.

Selene giggles at the look on Gladion's face.

"What's so funny?" Gladion snaps at her. Selene's smile only grows wider at that.

"Nothing. You just remind me of someone I know." she tells him. Gladion glares at her.

"I'm up for it." I pipe up before Gladion can make a retort to that. Nodding in response, Gladion starts walking towards the platform.

"Sun, good luck." Lillie tells me. I give her hand a comforting squeeze before letting go and walking after her as Lillie walks over towards Selene and Hau.

"Took long enough for you two to get things figured out... But I'm warning you now, if you hurt Lillie there won't be anything in the universe that will save you from me." Gladion warns me. I nod in response.

Soon, a crowd has gathered around the stage where me and Gladion are stood. Looking out into the crowd, I can see Selene and Lillie stood together at the back. Selene waves frantically while Lillie smiles at me warmly. I nod to them and turn back to Gladion.

"This will be a Championship match! Each participant will use six Pokémom each and the first person to lose all six will be the loser!" Hau calls out.

"Don't hold back, Champ. Silvally, go!" Gladion calls out as he unleashes the Synthetic Pokémon. Silvally adopts a serious face as he recognises his opponent.

"I won't. Primarina, let's go!" I yell as I release the Soloist Pokémon. Primarina quickly stops smiling and adopts a serious expression whe she recognises the Silvally in front of her.

As the sun finally sinks below the horizon behind me, both Silvally and Primarina stare each other down. They had clashed many times over the course of the last few years, both trading wins and losses. This battle would be another chapter in their long history.

Hau raises a hand in the air.

"Let the battle... Begin!"

_Many hours later..._

I look through the photos of us that Rotom took over the years. Some are old, very old, from when we first started out. Back then, I was just a rookie with a Popplio, and Lillie was a shy girl who was trying to protect Nebby.

These were taken seven years ago... Feels like a lifetime since then. I look at the person on the bed.

She's snoozing away without a care in the world. No surprise, she hadn't had chance to put her feet up since she got back from Kalos. Between the battle and the festival, Lillie had been busy all day, the poor thing. She'd looked like she was going to fall asleep on the way back from Iki Town, so I'd carried her here and put her on the bed so she'd be able to have a comfortable night's sleep. She'd fallen asleep in my arms and had been asleep ever since.

And now she was taking the chance to rest. I wasn't going to disturb her slumber over some old photos. I smile as she mumbles something about Nebby and turn back to the computer.

There are others, of course. Hau devouring yet another Malasada, Gladion lunging for Rotom to stop him from taking a photo, Buneary clinging to my head in fear of the Totem Araquanid...

All these, and I hadn't even started looking through the rest of them.

I had told Rotom to copy all the photos over to the computer, and he had done so before going to sleep. Now, with Rotom and Lillie sleeping soundly, I was left on my own, looking through memories of a long time ago, when we were younger, when Alola was still new to us and we had four islands to explore.

I flick through some more photos. Brionne and Buneary posing together in front of the entrance to the Fire Trial. Dulse and Zossie looking profoundly confused at Rotom. Snorunt laughing at a frozen Lopunny, courtesy of her Powder Snow. Pawniard chasing Snorunt around Primarina. Me, Hapu and Lillie on Poni Island together, when we were trying to rescue her mother. Froslass staring down the Totem Kommo-o with glee in her eyes over fighting such a tough opponent. Ultra Necrozma atop the Megalo Tower. Poipole and Larvesta playing together. Hapu executing the Groundium Z Move on Primarina. Lillie with Nebby next to Mahalo Bridge. Necrozma and Bisharp facing off in the crater on Mount Lanakila. Me, Hau and Kukui atop the summit in the Champion's room after my first successful title defense.

I smile. While it had been hard, I had enjoyed my run as Champion. But Gladion couldn't be a more worthy successor to the title.

I flick through some more. The Blacephalon that had ambushed us in the Poni Plains. Fighting Giovanni in the basement of the mansion in the Foundation. Froslass chasing Faba around as everyone else looked on and laughed.

My trip down memory lane was interrupted by the sound of someone stirring. I look to my right and see Lillie beginning to wake up, her eyes starting to flicker open.

"Hey you. You danced your feet off at the party and fell asleep on the way back, so I carried you there." I tell her. She smiles at me, the way she always smiled.

"You could've just left me on the couch. Where are you going to sleep?" Lillie asked.

"I'll probably sleep on the couch. And why? You'd be more comfortable on the bed than on the couch." I say. Lillie slowly stands up on her feet and walks over to me.

"I'm awake now, anyway." she says. She walks behind me and leans over my shoulder, wrapping her arms around me for balance.

"So what's this then?" she asks.

"I asked Rotom to put all the photos he's taken over the years on the computer. I was thinking of making a scrapbook or something." I tell her.

"That sounds like a good idea. Oh hey, that's from when I got my Z-Power Ring!" she says, leaning towards the screen and pointing at a photo Rotom took of Comfey and Mankey facing off.

"Yes it is. How long ago was that? Five, six years ago now?" I ask. She doesn't respond as she is too busy looking at the photos, so I decide to get her attention with a light kiss on her cheek, causing her to look at me with a smile and an adorable look on her face.

"You should go back to sleep. You must still be tired." I tell her. Lillie pulls back to protest but is stopped when she covers her mouth to stifle a yawn. I smirk and chuckle as she pouts at me.

"But you need some sleep too, Sun. You have to be tired as well." she chides me. I shake my head.

But it is late, and I have all the time in the world now to look at the photos, so I save the photos and power off the computer. I stand up and go to leave the room.

"Sun..." I hear behind me. I turn around and Lillie looks at me with a sad expression on her face. She doesn't want me to leave. I don't blame her, it's been a long time since we've spent time together.

"Don't worry, Lillie. I'll be in that room on the couch if you need anything." I say. She still looks uncertain, so I walk up to her and gently cup her cheek with my hand.

"Hey. You know I'll still be here." I reassure her. I bring us close so our foreheads are touching as she puts her hand on my hand that is on her face. I know she doesn't want to spend anymore time away from me. I don't want to spend anymore time away from her either.

"I know. Goodnight, Sun." Lillie says.

"Goodnight, Lillie." I tell her. I let go and leave the room. I make for the couch and settle down on it for the night. Tomorrow, I would have to see about getting the bed swapped out for a larger one so Lillie wouldn't have to be left alone as much.

Tomorrow, we will spend the day together. As a couple. And the day after that, and the day after that.

Because now we could spend the days together. No more trying to hide how we felt.

And when I woke up the next morning, and found her sat next to the couch with her Ribombee waiting for me to wake up so we could go into Hau'oli to see what had changed since she had left for Kalos, I knew that after everything, all the trials and battles we had been through, this was our reward.

We had finally gotten our happy ending.

_Character Ages:_

_Sun: 18_

_Lillie: 18_

_Hau: 18_

_Gladion: 2_ 1

_Selene: 19_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: While writing this I was listening to Vector to the Heavens from the Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 ReMIX soundtrack. If you don't know what it is, type in Everglow Xion theme into YouTube and it should be the first one to appear.
> 
> This was a blast to write and I'm sad that it's over. But hopefully those who have read along and those who find this in the future will have enjoyed this.
> 
> And if you have just found this and skipped to the end I want you to go back to the start and read each chapter. I promise you will enjoy each one.
> 
> Thank you all for reading this and be sure to leave a kudos and a review telling me what you thought of this.


End file.
